Garnet Valos

Garnet Valos and her family have created a partnership with Leigh Hall that has been unique and rewarding for everyone involved. Garnet, 88, chose Leigh Hall to be her new home last August, knowing that she needed an added level of care. With a recent cancer diagnosis, she knew there would be health challenges ahead, and that she wanted her family to be close by.

“From the moment she moved in, we knew that we couldn’t let her go through it alone,” said granddaughter Betsy McMahan, who lives in Baltimore.

Betsy decided to add a family touch to Garnet’s care at Leigh Hall, and stays with her grandmother nearly every day. Betsy (and her dog Spencer) and her mother and aunt take turns sitting with Garnet, who recently qualified for Hospice services in Leigh Hall.

Garnet’s family realizes it’s unusual for an Assisted Living community to allow family members to stay for an extended period of time, and add round-the-clock care on top of the care offered by Leigh Hall’s staff. Betsy appreciates the flexibility the staff has shown as her grandmother’s health and care needs evolve.

“The staff is really wonderful,” she said.

Garnet brought furniture and decorative items from home to add comfort and familiarity to her Leigh Hall suite. “It feels like home here to her,” said Betsy.

Garnet moved into Leigh Hall shortly after giving up a part-time job with AARP. Still working in her 80’s wasn’t unusual for an independent business woman like herself. She worked for more than 25 years in sales and customer service for a major retailer, often distinguishing herself as the top performer in her department. It was at her job that she earned the money to pay for the long-term care insurance that has provided her spacious suite at Leigh Hall, said Betsy.

In addition to a career in the retail world, Garnet raised four children with her husband of more than 40 years, and cared for her mother-in-law at the end of her life. Her family knows Garnet as a very caring person who has never said a harsh word in her life. She enjoys her extended family of 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, celebrating birthdays and family events whenever possible

Providing comfort and care for Garnet has been important to her family, and Leigh Hall has been a vital part of that process from the beginning.

“For our family, this is what works. They’re wonderful here,” Betsy said.