THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502160108
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
At 70, Gennie Mozingo is confined to an electric recliner. Her den is her daytime world where she has a TV remote control and a radio on her lap. Her books and a dozen medicine vials are next to her on the end table.
She has rheumatoid and osteo arthritis and osteoporosis and since she fell in the driveway in September 1992 she has been unable to walk, or even stand up.
Bob Mozingo, 65, cooks, cleans, does the yard work and attends to his wife's every need, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
That devotion recently won him the Caregiver of the Year award for 1994 by Commonwealth Health Care for his selfless sacrifice.
Bob Mozingo, who worked at the Naval Aviation Depot in Norfolk for 37 years and retired in 1991 to take care of his wife, was one of 12 nominees for the award.
``He's a wonderful man. He not only takes care of her, he's just so patient and kind. No one could be more deserving of recognition,'' said Joyce Gordon, a registered nurse at Commonwealth, who visits their home regularly, giving Gennie Mozingo shots, monitoring her medicines and taking her vital signs.
According to Gennie Mozingo, ``It's amazing what disruption one person in a household can cause just by not being able to walk.''
Mostly, they take it all in stride.
``It's no big deal on my part,'' said Bob Mozingo. ``She took care of me and now the shoe's on the other foot, so I'm going to take good care of her.'' They married in 1952.
At 38, he developed tic douloureux (from the French word for pain), which caused intense pain on the left side of his face.
``He would shake and grit his teeth,'' said Gennie Mozingo. ``It was the worst pain I've ever seen.''
An operation in 1980 alleviated the pain, but he has no feeling on that side of his face.
Gennie Mozingo, who worked as an area sales manager for World Book Encyclopedia until the late '60s, noticed symptoms of arthritis in 1971. ``My mother had it, but not as severely,'' she said.
It didn't slow her down at first. ``I used to be out all the time, having breakfast or lunch somewhere with my daughter,'' she said. ``Always on the go.''
Her condition worsened progressively. Now she sits in her recliner during the day. At night, her husband helps her into a patient hoist and into her electric hospital bed in the bedroom.
Her still-life paintings line the walls of the den. Pictures of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren rest on bookshelves.
Bob Mozingo leaves their house in Lake Shores only of necessity - to buy groceries, to go to Sunday school.
``We go the hospital and home, to the doctor and home,'' he said. ``I go out for maybe an hour at a time. I've learned to be a quick shopper. I don't want to take the time to browse the shelves. I shop quickly and come home.''
Their church installed fire-bell-type alarms on the outside of the house. The button to sound them sits next to Gennie's recliner.
Their biggest problems? ``Boredom, sometimes,'' she said.
``My biggest problem is planning the meals each day,'' said her husband, who never cooked before his wife's incapacity. ``Other than that, I'd have to say we have a pretty good life, considering.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
``It's no big deal on my part,'' says Bob Mozingo of caring for his
wife, Gennie, whom he married in 1952. ``She took care of me and now
the shoe's on the other foot, so I'm going to take good care of
her.''
by CNB