Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Oralia Terrazas hates the phrase, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” For her, it’s just not true.

“You can teach an old dog new tricks—if they want to learn,” she said.

Terrazas knows more than anyone about what it means to switch gears in life and learn new skills. She was a truck driver who did everything from long-haul to oversized heavy haul driving, but acting as caregiver for her parents inspired her to become a hospice nurse.

Terrazas never questioned her role as a family caregiver. In addition to taking care of her parents, she put her nephew through college and also takes care of her sister, who is disabled. She would fly out to do her job wherever she was needed, then come home to take care of her family.

Her mother suffered her first stroke in 2022 and was recovering nicely—but then had a second, which Terrazas said she never recovered from.

“I was still doing my job,” she said. “I was so conflicted because I was helping them pay the bills and I was like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ It was traumatic in more ways than one.”

She was earning more than $100,000 a year, but she told her boss she had to leave to take care of her mother, dropping her earnings from more than $100,000 a year to nothing.

Terrazas didn’t care.

“I was like, I have one chance to spend that time with my mom, and I’m never going to get another,” she said. “I made my choice, and I do not regret it. Even though the transition was difficult—thank God I had paid off the house and paid all my bills off… because it allowed me to be in the position I’m in now. Even though it was really hard, I was able to be there for my mom and help her transition to the next life.”

Her mother’s final days inspired her to be a hospice nurse. She said friends and family from all over came and prayed with her mother, doing everything they could to celebrate her life and the joy she provided for everyone.

“There’s peace in it because you know you did everything in your power,” Terrazas said. “You did everything you could possibly do: no stone unturned, no words unsaid. There’s everything you had to say, those times laughing at 3 in the morning over silliness that nobody was there to see, but you’re sitting there with your mom having all these deep conversations. (That’s) irreplaceable. It’s the best thing to ever happen to me.”

In the midst of taking care of her dying mother, Terrazas received more traumatic news: She was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal disorder. While her journey may have been beyond overwhelming to some, she said she uses her experience to provide others with insight into how to prepare for the unknown future. First, analyze where your parents are in life and prepare for the future by making a financial, emotional and even physical game plan. Second, take care of yourself.

“If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of anyone else,” she said.

Terrazas is currently in nursing school at Hondros College of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio, and should receive her licensed practical nurse degree in September; she said she’ll continue on to become a registered nurse. Going into nursing with the experience she has, she said her main advice is to take the job personally.

“Do your job like you are taking care of your mother and her life depends on you,” she said. “You can read all the books and know all the stuff, but if you do not have a kind and generous soul or you’re just in it for the money, don’t get into nursing. Remember: Someday you’re going to be in that bed and you’re going to hope the nurse that takes care of you is taking it personally.”

“These are people that had a life who weren’t just that person dying in the bed,” she continued. “They had a beautiful life before they got there. Get to know them.”