Tell Me Something Good: Jane Defee

Chris Brock is the Activities Director at Westhaven Nursing Home.  She says it was like a breath of fresh air the first day Jane Defee and her dog Jiggs visited residents.

"It reaffirms your faith in human beings every day we see her," Brock said.

Defee spent 30 years teaching English in Stillwater.  She knew she was doing something that mattered.  But retirement didn't bring the joy she expected.

"Several years went by and I just sort of felt vacant," Defee said.

During a visit to read to residents who were simply counting the days, Defee discovered she had a talent for bringing life into a place usually reserved for death.

Betty Hatchett, a Westhaven resident, enjoys the time she spends with Defee.

"We sing, we tell stories, and if she reads a story sometimes it will remind us of something that happened when we were young," Hatchett said.

"You always get your spirits up when you know she's here," said Vicki McWuire, another resident.

Tuesdays and Fridays are now fun days, when the "Jane and Jiggs" show interrupts the monotony of nursing home life.

During the show, Defee becomes an animated ring master.  She shows off books, directs the residents in song, entices some to dance and others less mobile to simply smile.  All the fun has residents scrambling for a good seat.

"Oh boy, Jane's going to be here," said Jackie Wood, an 83 year old resident confined to a bed.  "Get me down there!"

Defee says she'll continue her visits as long as she can.  Her mind is always ready for a performance, but her body is not.  Her health is in question.  Arachnoid cysts attacked her spinal column years ago.

"It took four surgeries to get them out," Defee said. "So my body went 'blah'."

You can't see it, but behind that smile is constant pain.

"I have a machine inside me that shoots medicine up and down me," Defee said.  "And sometimes it doesn't work right."

Her aging sidekick also has battles.  Jiggs can't hear and is blind in one eye.  The other eye has a cataract.

But rain or shine, Defee and Jiggs fight through the pain because the show must go on.

"There's no greater gift that a person can give to another person than to make you feel like you matter," Defee said. "And that's what they do for me."
       

Tell Me Something Good: Jane Defee

Posted: Wednesday, February 13 2013, 10:18 PM CST