For the past 42 years, Paula Turcotte’s smile has been a staple at a retirement home in Gananoque. Often, people hear her before they see her; her laughter can be heard down the hallway.

It is a sound that will be dearly missed when she retires as a Residential Aide in the summer of 2023.

“I’ve had great years here,” the 63-year-old Gananoque woman says about her workplace. “I was 20 years old when I came here on Oct. 6, 1980. I didn’t know anything then, and I’m not sure how much I know now, but I’ve had fun learning along the way.”

Paula’s laughter hangs in the air and warms the room. It is the type of joke her coworkers and residents expect from her.

“I was thinking of retiring,” she says with a touch of sincerity. “But I like to work, and I enjoy my job. I have loved working with the elderly and getting to know about their life stories; I have learned a lot from them.”

Paula’s job for the past 42 years has been to provide assisted daily living to residents at Carveth Retirement Lodge. Her compassionate health care earned her a workplace award in 2017 and the constant gratitude of residents and staff who feel her sincere desire to help.

“I have always felt it was important to try to make the lives of the residents here a little better. It may not be the home where they spent their lives, but I can try to make it a new home for them. They’re like my grandparents. Carveth has also been my home. I’ve spent a lot of my life here and I am thankful for all my years of employment with Carveth.”

Married with three children and five grandchildren, Paula has decided her last day at work will be July 5, 2023.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” she says thoughtfully when asked about her retirement plans. “I’ve never not worked. I think I might be a bit lost, at first. I’m sure I’ll find something to do. I’m not a person to sit. I will miss working with my fellow coworkers, they are a terrific bunch of girls who work hard and love the residents.”