Clowning for Love
When she first met the man that would become her husband, Kathy Carson was just clowning around. Although many young people in love could be described that way, Kathy was an actual clown. And she met Jerry in a way only natural to clowns: at a juggling club.
Jerry was a young computer programmer in 1991 who ran a juggling club on the weekend in Detroit, and Kathy called him up to ask about joining.
Kathy had only recently gotten into clowning. She says it was a bit of a fluke. At her day job as an insurance agent, her boss needed volunteers to be clowns in a parade. She found she really enjoyed it, and thought it could be a great way to help make ends meet as a single mom of two girls. So she called up her CPA and told him she wanted to start a side business.
“I said a clown business -- he laughed for 10 minutes and then he said, ‘You know, if anyone can make it work, Kathy, you can,’” she said. And the rest is history; Kathy started her own clown business and joining other clown groups over the years. When she was starting out though, she figured if she was a clown she needed to learn how to juggle. That’s when she came across Jerry’s club.
She started attending and they started dating a year later and got married in 1995. The entire wedding was juggling themed, including the newlywed couple juggling together instead of a first dance. They took their honeymoon to Sweden for the European Juggling Festival, where they wore “just married” shirts.
Juggling became a whole family affair too, with Kathy’s daughters learning as well. Although daughter Brooke Taxakis says she had to be bribed with good food in order to learn. She didn’t always love having to “share” her mom with other kids when Kathy was a clown
“It was sometimes unfair that other kids got to have her, and I didn’t,” she said. But as an adult she realized how much her mom gave toothers through clowning.
Over the years, Kathy and Jerry kept their day jobs but continued to juggle and clown for many years. Jerry said he’s had to slow down as he’s gotten older and bending down to pick things up has become more difficult.
As they’ve gotten older, more things have changed. The couple settled in Raleigh in their current home in 2002. More recently, as they looked forward to the future, they realized they needed to make more firm plans for their future.
Kathy said with her background in insurance, she had always known she needed to plan for her long-term care. But up until recently, their plans were vague -- to just try to stay healthy as long as possible and then find a care home when they needed it, but they didn’t know how they’d pay for it.
Then they heard about ThriveMore at Home. It’s a program that helps older adults plan for their longtime care, helping them stay healthy and age in their own home rather than moving to a retirement home. They became members last year and said they immediately felt more peace of mind about their future.
“We feel a lot more comfortable,” Jerry said. Kathy chimed in, “It’s almost like there’s something off my back now. We don’t have to worry.”
And they’ve already used their membership, getting high-quality support and care during Kathy’s hip replacement a year ago. Kathy’s recovery at the hospital was delayed and so her care plans had to change daily, but Lynne and Jeanne from ThriveMore at Home helped them every step of the way.
“I’m worried about her,” Jerry said of his time at the hospital with Kathy. “I don’t want to be on the phone for two hours to make sure there’s care… ThriveMore took care of all of it. I made one call a day and they took care of everything.”
In addition to advocating for them at the hospital, ThriveMore at Home also arranged for nursing and rehab care for Kathy once she returned home.
“You rest better, you heal better, in your house than in rehab,” Kathy said. “So we’re very happy customers.” Now Kathy and Jerry plan on spending the rest of their years in the home that they love, continuing to thrive and enjoy life.