from Audra Guy, Byron Health Center CFO, and Lane Guy, Mind Remapping Specialist (as told by Lane)
Published February 14th
Audra and I started dating back in in 1991. She was 16 and I was 19. Two years later, I asked her to marry me. Coming up on April 8th, we will now have been married for 24 years. We have welcomed two amazing sons into our lives. Jacob, our first, in 1997, and Ian in 1999. They have been the light of our lives.
Audra started working at Byron Health Center on April 8th of 2014 in the Business Office. She now serves the organization as the Chief Financial Officer. When she first began working at Byron Health Center, she would come home each night and talk about how great it was to be a part of the community there. She insisted that I needed to come out to an event and see for myself. My first experience just happened to be the filming of our Pink Glove Dance contest entry back in July of 2014. Anyone who knows me even just a little bit also knows that dancing is way out of my comfort zone. But what I saw there that evening was amazing. The love for the residents … the love for the staff … I knew I wanted to be a part of that. We went on to win 3rd place nationally in the contest and I started out as the Environmental Services Supervisor one month later. I have since held a few different positions within the organization, including Life Enrichment Specialist and Transportation Specialist, but now serve as a Mind Remapping Specialist. But, what we do here every day isn’t really what ‘our’ story is all about.
Three weeks after I had started at Byron, Audra and I received the phone call that any parent would dread. Our oldest son, Jacob, was riding to school with several friends. The driver had become distracted and there had been an accident. Out of the four young men in the car, we were told that only our son didn’t make it. I tell this story not to bring up sad memories, as we have plenty of those, but to share with you what Byron Health Center and its team members did for us.
We live in Ottoville, OH, which is about an hour away from work. We had to get back to Ohio and our youngest son, Ian, and then … to Jacob. Instead of jumping in the car and heading out while we were still in shock, and really just too emotional to drive safely, two amazing team members stepped forward to drive us home. And that was just the beginning of their kindness. Not only did team members drive an hour to Jacob’s showing, many also donated money, time and support to us over the next several weeks unlike anything that we had ever seen.
That was nearly five years ago and, since that time, the Byron Health Center team members and residents have become our family. Ian has also been a part of the Byron community since his junior year at Ottoville High School. He volunteers at all of the events and even completed an IT internship here during his junior and senior years of high school. The residents always love to see Ian and he helps to solve any tech issues they might have.
Throughout our marriage, Audra and I have both worked in many healthcare related jobs. Yet, we have never experienced the family environment and commitment our leadership team has provided, not just to the residents, but to the staff as well. There are so many reasons #whyIHEARTBYRON, but the two biggest reasons are 1) getting to work with amazing people in all departments whose goal is to protect the health and safety of our residents while making sure they are living their best life and 2) developing relationships with our residents who are the most grateful people we have ever met.
My only wish is that Jacob could have been able to meet everyone at Byron Health Center. He had a servant’s heart and would probably even be working here with us today. We are so grateful to all the team members and residents that ask us about him daily and help to keep his memory alive. We are so thankful to the Byron Health Center community for continuing to be one of our many support systems until we are reunited with our son in Heaven one very sweet day.
