Submitted by Donna Robinson
Touched by Kim Dillon
In 2001 I became the traveling nanny. I had no idea what I was doing--just an idea. I found the INA annual conference for 2002 and living in Florida, I decided to attend. Sasha of Nannies and More called and asked if I would co-workshop with Kim Dillon on Alternative Careers for Nannies. I was pretty scared as only in business for 6 months but figured I would just follow Kim’s lead! It seems my quiet shy Kim was expecting same of me. She was one of the first of her kind to take newborn care on the road and became my mentor.
She did more than encourage as she gave me jobs when she had to leave and they still needed someone. It was terrifying to follow a nanny everyone loved! She encouraged me to believe in myself and she was always a phone call away if I needed advice. After the job, she would call me with feedback from the clients. She never failed to make me feel good about myself. Through the years she was my best cheerleader and to this day she watches over me and tries to help if I need work.
Fourteen years of friendship would be enough to qualify for Touched by a Nanny. But in 2010 she gave love a new meaning. We had lost our son to cancer and we were just trying to survive emotionally. You know that "face" you put on for the world? Kim looked right past that and into my soul. She was busy and didn't often have time off but she made a 3 day weekend possible to travel from Houston to Austin to see us. I didn't feel I could handle a visitor but Kim pretended not to hear and came to help us heal. I consider that the turning point of surviving grief. She held me, let me cry and then would say “we need to go get some barbeque" and forced Jim and I to go out. She would even make us smile at a time when laughter was not possible. Her last day she pulled me aside and said "we need to take Jim to a movie. We will let him pick one of those action movies.” She told him we were all going to the movies as a treat from her. She would not let us pay. By the time we said goodbye, I felt like a tiny chip of pain had been erased. Jim is not easily touched but as he held me that day, he said “you have a great friend. She didn't have to do that..”
I was not just Touched by a Nanny, I was Healed by the Touch of a Nanny. I love you Miss Kim!
