May 24, 2019
When she was no more than a child herself, Gloria Frederick discovered she possessed a flair for babysitting. “I started babysitting when I was 11 years old. I loved it,” she recalls more than 70 years later.
Ms. Frederick got married when she was 18 and became a mother not long thereafter, eventually raising five children of her own – and putting all of that babysitting experience to good use. When asked her secret to caring for kids, she says “just pay attention to the child, make sure they’re in no harm, and play with them if they want to play.”
She and her husband, Earl, who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict, were both active in their church, and she sang in the choir there, as did several of her children.
But her church choir days are now over. Earl Frederick passed away 16 years ago. And last year, chronic pain forced Ms. Frederick, who is 82 and lives alone, to quit cooking her own meals. “I have a bad back and when I go in the kitchen and cook, I’m hurting by the time I get my meal fixed,” she explains. Fortunately, Meals on Wheels Central Texas was there to help. “It was actually my daughter’s idea (to contact MOWCTX). She wanted to make sure I had a hot meal at lunchtime,” says Ms. Frederick.
Five days a week, our dedicated volunteers deliver nutritious lunches to Ms. Frederick’s Round Rock apartment. While she enjoys our healthy meals, the daily visits and safety checks by the friendly folks who deliver the food mean just as much to her. “They are considerate and very polite. They know me by my name and they’ll say ‘Hi, Gloria, how are you, have a good day’ before they leave. It’s very pleasant. I enjoy it. It means I get to see a smiling face,” she says with a smile of her own.