January 26, 2021
Mountain Shadows Foundation Welcomes Rosemary Gatto to the Board of Directors
By Sheryl Wilde
These words, by Michael Neill, are a guiding force for Rosemary Gatto:
“The most important choice you make is what you choose to make important.”
Overwhelmingly, for the past two decades, Rosemary has chosen to make family her foremost priority. She had her first child, Evelyn, at a young age.
“Evelyn was born with bilateral schizencephaly,” says Rosemary. “She has cerebral palsy, can’t walk or talk, and she’s legally blind.”
Schizencephaly is a rare congenital brain malformation in which abnormal slits or clefts form in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain.
“It was tough. Evelyn and I grew up out of poverty together. At one time, we had no electricity. She became not just my daughter, but my friend.
“Evelyn taught me about love and happiness. She is the epitome of happiness. She also taught me about resilience. She was able to find happiness without being able to walk or talk.
“When Evelyn finished high school, my choice was, ‘Is it best for Evelyn to stay at home or should I place her in a facility? I started looking at places and as soon as I found Mountain Shadows, I said, ‘That’s it!’ Evelyn moved into Olive house several years ago.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I kept asking, ‘Is this the right thing to do?
“Many people don’t realize how impactful living for a special needs child, a child who can’t walk or speak, is. When I finally placed Evelyn at Mountain Shadows, I could put more effort into my career, but I kept thinking, ‘My daughter’s not with me!!! It was worry – on steroids. I thought, ‘How can I feel so relieved and yet so guilty?’
“It was really hard. I kept thinking, ‘She can’t survive without me! But when Evelyn moved into Olive house, she didn’t want to come home for two weeks!
“Now I know it was the right thing to do. At Mountain Shadows she’s thriving. That keeps me going. I think she’s happier. She’s gained weight. They take her to the beach. I couldn’t do that. When she’s in bed, they switch her over every two hours. I couldn’t do that.
“At Mountain Shadows, Evelyn is a different person. She’s more patient, more mature. If she wasn’t happy, I’d bring her home.
“When Evelyn first moved into Olive house though, it was very hard for me. I was stubborn at first when the staff suggested any changes. I said no to everything. I used to be fighting everyone, and there are perhaps some battle scars, but in the end, it taught me I’m out of my element here. I may not know the best way. Now I trust the caregivers so much. They are spot on. I rely on them so heavily. They look at my daughter as their own. I’ve never questioned, is she safe at Olive house? Never.
“The staff members have one of the hardest jobs. They do it because they love the residents. The reason they do this – that’s so important. They could be doing many other easier jobs. They make a choice to do this work.
“When you’re a special needs parent, that’s who you are. Mountain Shadows has given us freedom. Freedom for Evelyn and freedom for me.”
Rosemary is a Certified PMP, ITILv3 with more than 12 years of project management experience and 8 years of IT Network infrastructure knowledge and experience.
She’s currently a Business Process Manager of Strategic Program Services at World Wide Technology, a $12 billion technology solution provider. In this capacity, she leads a team of Senior Project Managers tasked with the definition and development of core business practices to support the management of large and complex accounts.
Prior to this, Rosemary worked in program management at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) which provides material support for aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy, where she managed multiple program and portfolio activities, including supply chain operations, acquisition logistics support, IT network and engineering support.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Health Administration.
While she has certainly had many successes in her life, Rosemary describes herself as “Parent of Evelyn”.
Over the past months, while Mountain Shadows has been on lockdown due to the pandemic, Rosemary and Evelyn have taken some comfort in daily Skype video visits.
“Without daily Skype calls, we’d both be a mess. That’s ‘our time’. I can see her lying there in bed. I can take 20-30 minutes and just stare at her. Sometimes we’ll even make dinner so she can see us. So, it kind of feels like she’s back at home.”
As she communicated with Evelyn daily, Rosemary realized some other residents didn’t have access to Skype/Zoom, so she setup a GoFundMe account to raise funds for residents who couldn’t afford iPads or tablets.
While the lockdown protocols have kept residents safe and COVID-19 free, they miss their families and their families miss them. Unfortunately, many residents do not have the mental capacity to understand the pandemic and why social distancing is necessary. They only know they miss their families.
“Knowing family is around is crucial.”
Rosemary raised more than $15,500 through a GoFundMe campaign and from grants to purchase iPads for Mountain Shadows residents and help upgrade technology in each of the Mountain Shadows homes.
“Everything in my life has been gauged by Evelyn. When I met my ex-husband, Evelyn was 2 years old. She loved him! She said, “That’s my daddy!” She picked him out. He fell in love with her before he fell in love with me. He wanted to be her dad. Everyone falls in love with her.”
The most important choice …
Throughout her life, Rosemary chose to make giving Evelyn the best possible life important.
We choose to do the same now that Evelyn is part of our Mountain Shadows family. And we welcome Rosemary Gatto to our Mountain Shadows Foundation Board of Directors as, together, we make the most important choices in supporting Evelyn and all of our residents into the future.