“I will remember it all the time! »
It was in the spring of 2010. Ann-Marie Pigeon, co-owner and then general director of the Lumain group of intermediate resource (RI) residences, was looking for a coordinator for the new establishment for 40 residents that she was preparing to open.
“She came into my office, I saw her CV, and I said to myself: ‘That doesn’t relate, she sells travel!’ »
Lucie Goudreault, in her late fifties, came from the tourism sector and knew nothing about seniors losing their independence. But what his CV didn’t show, his presence eloquently expressed.
“She exuded so much kindness, so much kindness! »
Ann-Marie Pigeon hired her, of course. “I’m a pretty instinctive girl,” she says.
She never regretted it.
For eight weeks, Lucie Goudreault followed Ann-Marie Pigeon – “like my shadow” – while she organized the staff, met the families and welcomed the residents of the new establishment.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Lucie Goudreault, Deputy General Manager, Groupe Lumain
“At the first meeting we had together with the nurse and the doctor, she was sitting back, in a chair, and she didn’t understand any of the jargon. »
Ann-Marie invited her to move her chair forward and not hesitate to ask questions.
Lucie did not only have intelligence of the heart. She learnt. And quick.
“After eight weeks, she was running the residence. And not long after, we had a big contract in Laval to open an RI for 150 residents. Me and my two partners made her director. She was the one who supervised the opening, the hiring of employees, and the welcoming of the 150 residents. »
Lucie managed the La Luciole residence.
Lucie, like firefly, from Latin lux : light.
She had a history of always trying to make others shine rather than shine herself.
Ann-Marie Pigeon, co-owner of Groupe Lumain
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Lucie Goudreault, assistant director, Groupe Lumain. with Ann-Marie Pigeon
Lucie got to grips with the administrative context, understood the social issues, and became familiar with cognitive illnesses.
Then she was named deputy general manager of the group of eight residences and 700 employees. An environment where the variety of issues requires the most dedicated versatility.
“She could talk with CISSS directors, meet families, or change pants. There was not one task that put her off or that she found less important than another. »
And so with gentleness and compassion, but without compromise, “she became someone loved by all. She enters a residence, especially those where she was most often there, and people who have dementia recognize her. And that’s not nothing! »
During my life and my career, my journey and my travels, I have met many extraordinary human beings, but never have I met someone so dedicated, committed, humble, with such listening and sensitivity. uncommon. I have never met anyone like Lucie.
Ann-Marie Pigeon, co-owner of Groupe Lumain
The hurricane
In 2020, the two women weathered the COVID-19 hurricane, which particularly shook one of the group’s establishments.
While Ann-Marie installed her stewardship and her mattress in the confined residence, Lucie relayed her to general management.
“She was the one who took care of everything while I devoted myself to changing pants, giving showers and holding the hands of people who were dying. »
And time flew by.
Lucie Goudreault recently retired – which doesn’t stop her from coming back to lend a hand on occasion. In mid-November, again, she helped distribute medications in relief of an absent attendant.
Does Ann-Marie Pigeon remember a particular moment that testifies to her qualities, like the time when Lucie…?
Long, very long silence…
Then, in a strangled voice: “The time Lucie came to see me after COVID to tell me that I was no longer able to function and that I needed to take time off. »
Ann-Marie was experiencing the equivalent of post-traumatic shock.
“She came to the house, she took my hand, then she said to me: ‘this isn’t working.’ I thought she had a lot of courage to do that. »
“But there were lots of beautiful moments! », she immediately amends.
“There, I cry, but I don’t cry all the time! “, she said with a smile in her voice, before adding a final chapter to the story.
Last spring, they went to Saint-Hyacinthe to support a long-time employee who was terminally ill with cancer. “We watched her all night. Lucie was with her when she died the next day. That’s Lucie. Always there for everyone. »
Exceptional people like Lucie often go under the radar because they are not inclined to put themselves forward.
Ann-Marie Pigeon, co-owner of Groupe Lumain