*I am very sorry but a new hire must be in the United States already, as obtaining a visa for entry is near-impossible.
My name is Craig. I am 55. I am a really wonderful person - JUST ASK ME: I’m thoughtful, funny, caring, compassionate, funny, kind, easy-going, generous, funny, magnanimous, … wait, … did I mention funny? Okay then; now that that’s out of the way, ….
I’m a [semi-]retired California attorney. Well, … not so much retired as disabled. While surfing in December 2018 I was hit in the head by another’s board and drowned. I was given CPR and resuscitated, waking 6 days later with a C4-5 spinal fusion and a prognosis that I will never walk again. I’m very fortunate that the prognosis was incorrect - my spinal injury is “incomplete,” meaning I have use and control of my body, but the nerve damage was still severe. I will always have significant effects and limitations, but I continue to make slow progress. I have always been an optimist and consider the glass half full. I often say, “It is what it is.” If you know the fable about the White Horse, kudos to you. For the first year I exclusively used a power wheelchair, but threw that aside (figuratively) as I SLOWLY regained use of my legs. For the last 5 years now I have mostly used a walker - but I’m really really slow. It appears that I will need to use a walker for a long long time to come - like forever. I fight each day to make a little more progress, which is truly by the millimeter.
What is most challenging is that I have severely limited functional use of my hands. IT IS THIS LIMITATION that renders me dependent daily on others.
Before my accident, I was very active - always go-go-go: surfing, golfing, snowboarding, baseball and softball, backpacking and camping and hiking, lots of travel, etc. Since the accident, well, … now I’m pretty limited. I have a host of friends and a wonderful support group. I keep busy teaching law school online and working with other attorneys and former clients. I have always considered my life’s purpose - be it work or otherwise, to be helpful to others. My personal goal for as long as I can remember, though I have obviously fallen way short, has been to try and help someone each day - but I cannot tell about it; if I tell, it doesn’t count. (So I can’t tell you about all my wonderful deeds because then they won’t count.)
We are looking for a LONG-TERM live-in personal assistant/caregiver for me. Probable start date will be around March 2026, but we will see.
In addition to room, the outgoing receives compensation of $400 per week base. She assists each morning at 6:30 AM for about 15 minutes and then works throughout the day 3 days per week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday. (An outside caregiver comes in Tuesdays and Thursdays.) “Family” fills in the rest of the time, including evening dinners and usual weekends. However, a new hire will necessarily find a routine that works well for all – compensation and schedule may or may not mimic the prior.
Our (large) home has been turned into a duplex. Me and my aging mother, Francie live in the back; my daughter Lexi and son-in-law Arlis live in the front with our 2 granddaughters (Lily is age 2, and Addie was born October 6, 2025.) My (ex)wife Dana lives in our home next door, which is also converted to a duplex, but has an additional detached granny unit – accommodation for a new hire is this one-bedroom detached Granny unit next door.