When I was 2o I moved to Boston to be a nanny. My first job was for a single mom but unfortunately it did not work out very well. A friend of mine in the ward told me about a lady who owned a nanny agency from her home need a nanny for herself. I met her and was hired on the spot and quickly moved in to their home. It was for Rena and Larry Wohl. They had 2 boys at home and 2 a college. The oldest one is my age.
So I started to work for Rena. I took care of Dana who was 8 at the time, and Brett who was I think 13. Both gave me many challenges!!! Dana was ADHC, so that was very challenging. We had to make sure he took his meds every day. But he had an awesome personality and we had a blast. I had a great time working for Rena and Larry. I took the boys to school cleaned up a bit each morning, then I worked in the nanny agency. Answering the phones, talking to potential nannies and families looking for nannies, doing lots of secretarial work-faxes, copies, and also getting references. I also planned quarterly activities for the nannies in the agency since many of them were from out of state. I also got both of my subsequent nanny jobs from families in Rena's agency, which was called Nannies' Nook.
I had a car to use, a nice room in the basement and Rena was open to me having parties with my single friends and having people over. They also had a condo on Cape Cod I used with friends. It was a challenging job-very demanding at times, but also soooo fun and I learned tons. I grew close to especially Rena and Dana. I remember taking Dana to all his Hebrew classes, then I was able to go to his Bar Mitzvah after my mission.
So to today. I have recently been back in contact with Rena on Facebook. Well, now I don't even know if it was her, or her son. There were lots of posts on her wall where people were sending their love and hoping she would feel better. So today I looked on FB and her son had put a post up saying she was resting comfortably and knew that everyone was thinking of her. He further commented that he and his brothers expected to have her longer but that they couldn't have had a better mother and were grateful for the time they had. It gave the impression that she would not live much longer. I just started crying. I have thought of her so many times through the years. I sent Christmas cards for a while-I know, she's Jewish, but she loved them anyhow. Then I lost track of her. I was so excited to be hooked back up through Facebook.
I am so very sad to hear of her being so ill, possibly facing death. I wished I had been able to visit her on one of my visits to Boston. She is one of those people who you meet and makes a great impression on you, and even though you haven't had much contact in recent times, it is sad to think they aren't living on the earth any longer.
To Rena: I love you and say thanks for the memories!
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