Bonnie J. Carter
Bonnie J. Carter, 88 of Kokomo, and a former resident of Windfall, passed away at 5:15 a.m. on Monday, April 17, 2023 at Ascension St. Vincent Kokomo. Bonnie was born on June 14, 1934 in New Castle to Othel & Minnie (Marcum) King. She married Tracy Carter on October 25, 1997 and he preceded her in death on February 28, 1999.
After high school Bonnie continued her education earning a Master’s Degree. She served as a teacher for 35 years. Bonnie was a member of Judson Road Christian Church in Kokomo. She also belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star and played in the Kokomo Duplicate Bridge Club.
Bonnie is survived by many beloved nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by one brother, Clifford King, a half sister, Audrey Thacker and a half brother, Frank Guffey.
Bonnie’s Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 20 at Judson Road Christian Church in Kokomo. Burial will be in Brookside Cemetery, Windfall. Visitation is also Saturday from 12:00 Noon until the time of the service.
Memorial donations in memory of Bonnie may be made to Judson Road Christian Church, 2006 W. Judson Road, Kokomo, Indiana, 46901.
Bonnie was a wonderful person and great friend. Long may her memory live through all of her many students and relatives.
Most people might think of a certified nursing assistant as a person who does all the dirty work. It is true that CNAs take care of their residents in the most intimate way possible through the activities of daily living that they support them with. Saying all this, a CNA gets the privilege to truly get to know their residents and become best friends with them. We are with them everyday for long periods of time, doing everything with them. This can range from helping them go to the bathroom to eating dinner with them when they are feeling lonely. Going into being a CNA, I never thought about the connections I would make with my residents. But with connections, comes grief. This essay will be written in honor of Bonnie Carter, the woman who changed my life and whom I will never forget.
This whole story starts the second semester of last year. Me and my classmates were doing our clinicals at Brickyard. At the beginning of clinicals I was nervous, not only because of this new experience but also because of what I had heard about Brickyard. Former students had told me that Brickyard was a horrible and disgusting place for the residents to live and it was just an overall awful experience for them to do clinicals there. Hearing this did nothing but make me have a negative outlook on the experience so obviously I was pretty nervous and scared. But my whole idea of this new place completely changed when I walked into the first room. It was a beautiful, kind woman in her eighties named Bonnie. During the next few months of my clinicals, I stayed by Bonnie’s side and did pretty much everything for and with her while I was at Brickyard. Bonnie and I did many things together like coloring, and doing her hair but her most favorite thing to do was to get hot chocolate from the cafeteria. Bonnie was obsessed with hot chocolate and it could never be too hot! While she drank her hot chocolate, she told me about her life story. Bonnie was an elementary school teacher and she even taught in Hawaii for a little while. I got to know all about her family, friends, and pets. I will always cherish these precious memories I got to spend with Bonnie.
These moments that I got to spend with Bonnie completely changed my outlook on being a CNA and a nursing student in general. Not only does a CNA help residents with their daily activities but they also become their best friends and pretty much family. If it weren’t for Bonnie, I don’t know if I would have continued with being a CNA. I would like to think that I would but I truly don’t know because of how much of an impact she had on my experience and life. Patient centered care is so important in nursing homes and retirement communities because you, as a CNA, might be all they have. Some people, like Bonnie, only had family members that lived out of the state and so they couldn’t visit as much as they would like to. If a person is training to become a CNA solely because of the pay, then they should turn around right now because there is so much more to it than that. Bonnie helped me learn so much that truly carved the way for me to start nursing school next year.
The biggest and most important thing that Bonnie taught me was to never take anything for granted. After the semester was over and it was time for me to say goodbye to Bonnie, I had gotten a call from my friend informing me that she had passed away. This broke my heart in a million different ways because Bonnie was not only my resident, she was my best friend. I would even say that she was like a grandmother to me. She was so comforting and loving. After her death, I thought that nursing school and being an aide might not be for me because of how much she affected my life and emotions. I thought that if I couldn’t handle one resident dying then how would I ever be able to take care of my patients. I talked to my parents about how I was feeling and they told me that the way I was feeling is why I belonged in the healthcare field. I have so much love and compassion for my residents that a death affects me this way. This is when I knew that I was meant to be in the healthcare field. I was meant to have compassion and love for my patients.
If you or anyone else is wondering if you should become a CNA, I highly recommend it and I hope that this essay has influenced your decision. Not only did I influence Bonnie’s life by sticking by her side no matter what, she completely changed my life by being the most amazing person I have ever met. I hope every other aide can meet their Bonnie.