Friendship – real friendship – is a two-way street. It is an essential, everyday truth at DOROT and in our work. It becomes a thing of beauty in an intergenerational relationship like Betsie and Rachael’s. What began with DOROT Westchester matching these very different women for Caring Calls outreach when the lockdown began, has blossomed into a unexpected, vibrant, mutually enriching friendship.
“Imagine being stuck in a chair,” says Betsie, who is 91 and blind, about the challenges she has faced during the pandemic lockdown. “I don’t know how I would have made it, sitting there for almost a year, without this friendship. DOROT and these two young women have meant the world to me.”
The two young women Betsie mentions are Rachael, her Caring Calls partner, and Courtney, her DOROT Westchester social worker. Together, they helped Betsie through not only the pandemic but a difficult year a nursing care facility, where she had to stay until she could organize a new aid structure in her Yonkers home. She is, happily, back home now.
Originally from England, Rachael is an artist and art instructor who is also the mother of three. They bonded quickly. In years past, Betsie was an actress, dancer, muse, teacher and mother. Despite her challenges in recent years, she keeps her creative spirit thriving. “Betsie is so sharp and interesting – she’s amazing!” Rachael says. “I didn’t expect it at all. She came into my life when I least expected it. I couldn’t dream up someone like Betsie up, she’s so interesting. These relationships are quite special and inspiring – and fun! … We’ve become part of each other’s lives now.”
Proof of the depth of their grateful connection is the book of Betsie’s poems that Rachael put together. In the midst of their sharing about art, life and motherhood, Betsie would recite to Rachael poems she had written and lost but had memorized. Rachael transcribed them and assembled them into a book with pictures of Rachael during her performing days (including a photo displayed above).
As Betsie says, “You never know what can happen in life!"