Growing up in the Philippines, Boyet Magbal learned from his family how to treat others. “You treat other people the same way you want to be treated. From my parents I learned that we are all the same,” said Boyet. As a boy, Boyet spent a lot of time with his grandparents and he remembers becoming particularly close to one of his grandmothers who he visited often.
When Boyet was a young man he joined the Philippine army. Later, he married, and in the year 2000, moved with his wife to the United States. He began a career as a hotel worker, staying in this line of work for a number of years. However, during a visit to his niece, a nurse, Boyet became interested in health care. He remembered the times spent with his grandmother in the Philippines and decided to look for work as a caregiver. He and his wife lived in a number of places where they both worked as caregivers, including South Dakota and Utah. Eventually they moved to Seattle and in 2012, Boyet was pleased to find work with Family Resource Home Care. Boyet has high praise for FRHC staff. “They are all very nice. They are good to the caregivers and give us any help that we need.”
The philosophy that Boyet learned from his family about treating others as you want to be treated, today governs everything he does with his elderly clients. His first FRHC client was an elderly gentleman with whom Boyet grew very close. “I was his live-in caregiver and our relationship was like father and son. When you live with your client they become your family” said Boyet. Boyet cared for this client for 1 ½ years until the client passed away. “This is the most difficult part of being a caregiver,” said Boyet. “It is very hard when they die.”
Boyet is now working with a new client, again as a live-in caregiver. “The best part of being a caregiver is being able to make my client happy and comfortable. It is an honor to take care of them and I know that when I treat them just like I treat myself, then I am giving them the best that I can.”
