Angels All Around…

A few years ago I was chatting with some friends when I noticed a gentleman across the room. I had never seen him before and asked the others if they knew who he was. All shook their heads no. Being the networker that I am and comfortable in my surroundings a few minutes later I approached this man and introduced myself. He was passing through Collingwood and welcomed a friendly hello and smile. We chatted for an hour before he went on his way. What I want to share with you is that the strangest thing happened to me that day. This man was a very spiritual being and I felt I had known him all my life and in our conversation he told me I was going to meet an angel right here in the Town of the Blue Mountains.

This past summer at a garden party a similar experience happen only this time I looked across the lush green lawn to observe an “angelic” looking women return my glance. It wasn’t minutes before she walked over to me and introduced herself.

Nancy Jeanne Marie Paul was born August 31, 1951 in Pembroke, Ontario to two remarkable people, Edna and Louis Clouthier. She is the youngest of 18 children – 10 boys, 8 girls. Her father passed away in 1994 at the age of 89 and her mother turned 97 in October and is still living in Pembroke.

Not all eighteen children lived at home at the same time however, it was still a home always filled with a lot of activity, fun, laughter, and above all love. Nancy shared that belonging to a family of this size offers many advantages and some disadvantages. One advantage was she always had someone to play with. One of the disadvantages was she had to learn at a very early age how to be independent and strive for what it was she wanted at the end of the day. In looking back, what was once considered a disadvantage became an advantage because the lessons she learned from many of her endeavors has made Nancy who she is today.

Upon completion of high school, Nancy decided it was time she left Pembroke and moved to Ottawa where she worked for a law firm. Four of Nancy’s sisters lived in the Kitchener area and persuaded her that it was a city with many opportunities and so in 1970 she made the move to the Kitchener/Waterloo area where she still lives full time today. She also maintains a property in Collingwood.

In Kitchener, Nancy took on work with an accounting firm and a year later met her husband to be, George Paul. They were married in 1972 and three years later in 1975 their daughter Megan was born. Life seemed like a fairy tale, marriage, family and careers were all very fulfilling. In 1981 Nancy found out she was once again pregnant and on November 14th of that year she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Adam.

No one knew at that time that this beautiful baby boy had any disabilities. He looked like your ‘Gerber’ baby. Healthy, happy and cute. Within six months life as they once knew it, would never be the same. Nancy became anxious when she noticed Adam was not physically and mentally mirroring the stages that Megan had gone through. After many frustrating diagnosis Nancy decided that part of Adam’s delay was due in part that she felt his vision was impaired. A visit to Toronto Sick Kids hospital confirmed her suspicion. Adam was diagnosed with optic atrophy – he was legally blind! At this time her husband George was given a promotion along with a relocation to Miami, Florida. All of sudden, life was filled with many unknowns and much confusion. Nancy decided to take time off and be with her children. Further diagnosis in the US confirmed that Adam would be mentally and physically disabled. He would require 24/7 care. With all that was happening a year later, they decided to move back to Kitchener to be closer to the family support they would need.

“From the beginning we knew that we would always care for Adam at home. There were so many things that we did not know how to do, such as how to locate the resources and people to educate and emotionally support us along the way. Like everyone who is placed in this position, we did the best we could. There wasn’t any “one stop call” service agency that would provide us with the information or the relief that we needed.

“We refused to believe what the doctors had told us, that Adam would not talk or walk. With much persistence on our part, exercise programs, assistive devices and school programs were put into place and everyone worked diligently to follow the programs that were customized for Adam. I taught Adam to crawl by getting on my hands and knees and tying him underneath me and I would gently nudge his hands and knees to move forward. After a year he could crawl anywhere in the house. Because he could not sit up on his own and he loved his bath time, I would place him inside a plastic laundry hamper, load it up with toys that would be within his grasp and let him enjoy what other kids take for granted. He was enrolled in speech therapy and we spent endless hours getting him to associate objects with words. In the end his vocabulary consisted of approximately 100 applicable words and about another 100 words which he gave his own meaning to. Strangely, we knew what he wanted with his every sound. He eventually learned to walk with a walker and even though he was blind, he learned to drive a bicycle!

Financial circumstances led Nancy back into the workforce and she took a sales job with CHYM Radio. She later took a position in advertising with Tele Direct and then accepted a position as National Sales Manager for Kelly Services. At this same time she enrolled part time in Wilfrid Laurier University in the business program and later became Marketing Manager for Home Hardware Furniture Division responsible for 45 dealers across Canada. Life continued to become more complicated and busier.

At the age of five Adam entered into the school system. It was important that he be integrated with other children. The teachers and the other children loved him in the classroom. He loved the bus ride and most of all he loved being with all his friends. Nancy became involved with the school system and was a member of the Special Needs Advisory Board on the Separate School Board.

Nancy knew that to give quality of life to Adam everyone had to respect him and his needs. She learned to be compassionate and give him his dignity which enabled him to be independent in his own world. To say the amount of time spent teaching Adam was fulfilling, would be negating what it truly was all about. With limited speech, minimal mobility and no sight, Adam taught Nancy so much more in the other areas of life that she could ever have taught him. Adam truly was her “Angel”.

On June 24, 1992 when Adam was 10 years old he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died August 24, 1992 at home in the arms of his mother. Nancy’s world fell apart. The life she once knew would never be the same in so many ways. Adam now really became her little ‘Angel’.

Nancy felt she didn’t have time to grieve. The day after Adam’s funeral her husband was told the company had downsized and he was without a job. Like any mother she felt she had to be strong and pick up the pieces and keep everyone going. Her husband found it difficult to accept Adam’s death which eventually took its toll on the marriage. Two years later, after 23 years of marriage they decided to separate and later divorced”. Statistics show that after the death of a child about 20% of marriages survive.

“Grief is grief and you have to go through it in order to come out of it. I tried to take time for myself but the demands of the job eventually wore me down. I had to get off the treadmill. I knew there was something I had to do but didn’t quite know what it was. In October 1996 I registered a company name, Angel Associates and did not know what this company would represent.

Nancy felt she just had to secure the name somehow. She received a notice in the mail informing her that the company name had been officially registered on November 14th (Adam’s birthday). She took this as a sign.

“I had learned all aspects of operating a business. During my 5 years as National Account Executive/Sales Manager of Canada’s largest personnel placement agency with over 100 locations in Canada, I created, facilitated and implemented dedicated company sales training and telemarketing programs. Then during my tenure as Marketing Manager with a Canadian retail furniture company with over 50 stores I was responsible for business development and designed and implemented advertising and promotion programs. And finally, with a sense of mission, high energy, self-motivation and the ability to train and manage productive teams, I opened the doors of Angel Associates on March 3, 1997 in Waterloo with very limited finances.

With creative financing, tons of faith, determination and help from many ‘angels’ Nancy succeeded in building a very reputable and high standard home care agency. Coming from a family of successful entrepreneurs and being taught that if she believed in herself and if she wanted something bad enough and was prepared to work hard she would experience the rewards.

“From the very first day I opened the doors of Angel Associates, I made a promise to Adam that I would put “angels’ across Canada. I didn’t know then how or when I was going to do this, but like the blind faith that led me to this business, I knew there would be angels along the way to show me when the time came. Seven years later I woke up one morning with a sense of peace accompanied by a mission …today was the day to start the next journey. I knew this overwhelming inner feeling was a sign that it was time for me to put angels across Canada and I chose franchising as a way to do it”.

Nancy didn’t know how to go about franchising but once again ‘angels’ were put in her path. A few phone calls and some conversations and she was being mentored by a very powerful group of individuals – an award winning, renowned franchisor, a franchise corporate lawyer and a CFO. It doesn’t get any better! In a hundred years, she would never be able to afford the knowledge and direction these people imparted on her!

“I sincerely hope that these people will know that I will be forever grateful to them for their words of wisdom and their belief in me. I knew my personal and business experience certainly would be an asset in a franchise environment. Adam gave me a 10 year university course on administering quality care which in the end, I believe has put me where I am suppose to be today.”

After completing her business plan, designing a website www.angelassociates.com writing an Operations Manual, a Policy and Procedure Manual, a Staff Orientation Manual and designing the many forms, she took the biggest and scariest step of her life and opened another business – Angel Associates Inc. This franchise company was formed to allow her to fulfill her dreams and her mission - to put ‘angels’ across Canada.”

“I have begun the journey and my dreams are already coming true! It was important for me to keep the memory of Adam alive. Adam was a gift and he was my angel and I thank God every day for giving me one of his chosen angels. He taught me, you are what life’s experiences are. Values carry you through life’s experiences and faith took me through ten years with Adam. I am taking the time and effort now to provide an opportunity to allow others to experience the quality of life that we provided for Adam, a quality of life delivered with compassion which allowed him to retain his dignity, respect and independence!

A sincere, determined compassionate woman, Nancy’s loyalty and love for her son and for herself has given her the strength to move forward and share with others that life is what you make of it.

When I asked Nancy what would she share with other women starting a business she replied:

1. Believe in your purpose
2. Believe in yourself
3. Be ready to work extremely hard
4. Learn to celebrate your success more!

“I’m driven with such a force of belief it keeps propelling me forward.”

I never saw or heard from the man again yet he told me I was going to meet an angel and I did. A miracle, a visit from the unknown, you tell me. All I know is that when I started to write this article, after five years the image of this man flashed back into my mind and I knew Nancy was his gift to me. Thanks be to Angels!