Maxine Guillory, who is a resident of our Clairmont unit here at GHRC, has been with us since May of this year. You can easily recognize Maxine by her infectious smile and warm personality. She was born in Jennings, Louisiana. At the age of two months, she moved to Lake Charles, where she resided until she went to college. After college, Maxine returned to Lake Charles, met her husband, Joseph Johnson, and shortly thereafter they were married.

Since Joseph was serving in the Air Force, they moved to different places in the United States and to different countries. After five of their seven children were born, the Johnsons headed to South Dakota, where they brought their sixth child into the world. They spent about three years in South Dakota, and Maxine stated, “I loved it there!” After South Dakota, their next stop was Germany where their last child was born. They spent four years in Germany, then moved back to the United States to spend another four years in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, then finally, their last stop, Florida.

While spending all those years on different military bases, Maxine wanted to keep herself busy, so she worked at the Base Exchange, in the laundry and dry cleaning areas. “It wasn’t just a job to keep myself busy,” Maxine stated, “but also something that I really wanted to learn to do.”

After being in Florida for a while, Maxine and Joseph unfortunately went their separate ways and Maxine made her way back to Louisiana.

While living there, Maxine started randomly passing out. After passing out three times in one day, she went down the hall to see her neighbor. While they were talking, Maxine passed out again, prompting a call to 911.

Maxine said, “I had a brain tumor and didn’t even know it!” Thankfully her doctor said that it was not life-threatening.  When Maxine was released from the hospital after surgery, her doctor thought it was best she spend some time in a rehabilitation center.

While Maxine was in rehab in Louisiana, she and her family decided that it would be a good idea for her to move to Virginia, to live close to one of her daughters who would have the time to take Maxine out of the building on outings throughout the week. Maxine does not regret moving from Louisiana to Virginia. The only thing that concerns her is the COLD weather! She’s a little nervous as to what the winter will be like. Maxine has met wonderful people here at GHRC, and we have to say, we have enjoyed getting to know her!

By Christina Horan, Activities Assistant