Where Are They Now?
Kay Eaton is a natural caregiver. From caring for her son, to working in home health, to nursing her mother and sister, Eaton has dedicated her life to helping those around her.
“That was my calling,” she said. “It was just in my blood.”
Eaton graduated from Dublin High School in 1975. After graduation she got married and began working at the since-closed Winn’s Variety Store in Dublin. When her son James Lee Eaton was born in 1978, she quit her job to devote her time to being a mother to him.
She stayed at home for the next 27 years.
“I was basically being a housewife,” she said.
Her days would consist of taking care of household duties, pursuing her hobbies suchasmakinghomecoming mums, and providing care for her mother Barbara Bull, who suffered from medical conditions that made it hard for her to live on her own.
Eaton and her husband separated in 2005, and she bought a house in town with her mother so she could provide live-in care. When her mother passed away in 2007, Eaton began looking for a way to fill her time. Her niece heard that there was an open position for a home health aide at Girling Home Health, and Eaton interviewed and was hired in a week.
Over 12 years there, Eaton worked her way up to five clients.
“The clients were just awesome,” she said. “They were just like family. You got used to seeing them every day.”
Starting in 2012, Eaton began balancing work with taking care of her sister, Kathy. She worked at Girling until 2020, when her own health became too bad to work.
“I hated to leave,” she said.
Eaton now lives with her son.
“I was always taking care of people, and now he helps take care of me,” she said.
Even though she’s no longer working, Eaton keeps busy. She enjoys making homecoming mums, wreaths and flower arrangements for weddings and other events. She learned the craft after taking a class when she worked at Winn’s.
“From then on it was just trial and error,” she said.
She makes mums for Dublin and Stephenville, and usually creates about 100 each year.
“They way I do it is that I make almost all of them and then [customers] come in and they pick,” she said. “I’ve got mums, garters, finger mums, hair bows, all of it.”
Eaton’s advice to Dublin graduates is to keep an open mind.
“Listen to your parents, and be kind to everybody,” she said.
“We are all God’s children, don’t be ugly to each other.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.