Our Team

Bill worked as a pharmacist for fifty-three years, including the last thirty as manager of Outpatient Pharmacies at Jefferson Health. Married to Nora for fifty-five years, Bill is the father of four great sons, three grandsons and (finally!) one granddaughter. He always enjoyed playing, refereeing and coaching sports. Bill is currently diagnosed with dementia.

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“Sometimes my mind feels blank. With this diagnosis, Nora is the one taking all the punches. What am I going to do to help her?”

Nora has been married to her husband, Bill, since 1964. She has been a hematology medical technologist and, later, a phlebotomist at Jefferson Health. She loves gardening, opera and music of almost any kind. For her, cooking and baking have always been tops. She is currently a care partner for her husband Bill.

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“Bill and I have a deep abiding love after 54 years of marriage. I will always be there for him. There’s a touch of divine in the deep place in my center.”

Sunny Lai is a family medicine physician at Thomas Jefferson University with special interests in HIV, addiction and LGBTQ health. She is a lover of all things creative. She is thrilled to share this experience with her partner, John Best, and all of the amazing individuals in this work.

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“For me, being a physician is about being with a family through the mundane as well as life-changing moments. It’s about long companionship and knowing their stories. And if there are no more words, it’s about being with their soul.”

Mike is a married father of two who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and now resides in South Jersey. He worked in accounting and finance and now owns his own business. Mike loves to play golf. He is the care partner of his wife, Mary Anne, who has frontal lobe dementia.

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“Being a care partner can be scary. It’s like I’m on an island. Other times, it’s like I’m spinning plates and, before I know it, one has crashed.”

Kimberly Mellon is a certified clinical hemodialysis technician at Jefferson Health, New Jersey, and a recent graduate of Thomas Jefferson University’s College of Nursing. She is a dedicated mother to her dear daughter Nevaeh Mellon. She loves dogs, coffee and the beauty of human connection.

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“After many years of taking care of my grandmother at home, we had to put her in a care facility. It’s hard to think you’ve failed your loved one.”

Michael was born and raised in Philadelphia. Like his mother, Michael loves traveling and jumping in his car to take long drives while watching the sun rise. He retired from AT&T in 1987 and began working full time in healthcare. He has been a volunteer emergency medical technician and instructor. Michael was a care partner for his mother, who had dementia.

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“When my mother had dementia, the most upsetting part was when she told me she didn’t have any children. I said “OK,” because I’d known that day was coming.”