week feeling gratitude for the work that I have the privilege of doing through A Single Ray of Hope. I get to meet and help so many neat people. Every day is different from the next.

Today I was able to grocery shop for a senior client. She is a hoot! I love seeing her and hearing stories of her life adventures. She gave me some super old photograph negatives to get developed....she isn't sure who is in the photos...maybe her parents. I took them to a local camera shop who will have the prints ready on Tuesday. I can't wait to see her face when she sees the photos in her hands. Later today, she left me a voice mail saying how much she appreciates me and my services. It seems that we were both a bright spot in each other's day today. How cool is that?

I then met with another senior client who is moving to a retirement community next week. We packed up her food, pots & pans and other kitchen items. I got to listen to her stories about making homemade cannoli and she taught me how to play Spider Solitaire. Just saying...how cool is that?

Also, this week I continued to work on an incredible women's event that is coming up on November 1 & 2. Your Life Unplugged: A Women's Retreat. (www.yourlifeunplugged.com) This retreat is so cool....providing women and their girlfriends from near & far to relax, have fun and get pampered. Women don't do that enough...and we do ourselves a disservice when we put ourselves last. So helping to provide this opportunity is so meaningful! I have been working on the retreat with Karen Vogelmann, Mindset Coach for Your Awesome Life. I am in awe of her knowledge of just about everything and her grace! (www.yourawesomelife.com) So here goes....how cool is that?

Mary Beth Esquibel

A Single Ray of Hope

www.asinglerayofhope.com

269-720-7605

A Single Ray of Hope celebrates 16 years of being in business in July 2022! How is this even possible? It is an amazing milestone for me and I am extremely proud and a veteran and woman-owned business.

Where did the idea come from to open a Concierge Service in Portage, Michigan? Well, myself and two dear friends would gather over frozen strawberry dacquiri's and making jewelry while brainstorming businesses to go into. My friends chose other routes and were equally as successful in their career paths, while I pursued opening A Single Ray of Hope's Personal Assistant & Concierge Service.

Still today, I love being of service to people. I am blessed to meet and work for a wide variety of clients. Individuals of all walks of life....some working professionals both with and without families, retired seniors and their adult children, various businesses and more. I love getting to know people and hearing about their fascinating lives. My reward is knowing that my service is giving them the ability to focus on what is most important to them. It's about the value of time and how they choose to spend it while handing of their TO DO List to a trusted business.

I started my business as a way of giving back to others. My youngest son has special needs and many family and friends helped guide us over the years, providing respite, words of encouragement, providing helpful information of where to go for services and assistance. The term...it takes a village is true. Others helped us and I wanted to help others in return.

Another reason for my business is I saw my mother who raised thirteen children end up struggling later in life with Alzheimers. I'd visit her in her nursing home and think...is this really how life should be for a women who worked so hard to put her children through catholic school by donating her artistic time & talents, staying up late at night just to have a little peace & quiet, stretching a dollar beyond belief, and raising a good family? Mom's put themselves last, we do it willingly but in the end, we are doing a dis-service to ourselves and our families. I thought life shouldn't have to be this hard. How about a providing a service so that people could enjoy life more instead of running in a hundred directions?

Many times, I don't see a lot of my clients....I'm in and out of their home during the day while they are at work. Shopping is done, errands done, dry cleaning is hanging in their closet, meals prepped or cooked, prescriptions picked up, library books returned, service people have been to the home such as plumbers, etc. My business gives my clients some breathing room and that is how life should be lived.

You get the picture. It's about work life balance and peace of mind....for both myself and my clients. Life is short....take time to smell the flowers.

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