For CNA Seanna Butler, work equals joy

If you have met Seanna Butler, there’s a good chance you’ve seen her dancing or playing one of her signature jokes that keep everyone smiling.

“They know me for dancing, decorating, and I play a lot of jokes,” Seanna said. “I try to liven things up where I can.”

Even if that means “throwing” a loss in a contest with Executive Director Tim Allen.

“We had a splits contest in one of the outdoor events,” Seanna said. “They all got a kick out of it — and they couldn’t believe how far he got down. I won it, but you know I gave it to him.”

Especially in the past year, humor and levity have been an important part of what she brings to her work.

“What we are going through right now, they need it,” Seanna said. “When COVID came, it was tough to see them go through all of that. We had to come up with these ideas to make sure they could get through it.”

The look on residents’ faces tell her she’s doing her job the right way.

“The smile on their face lets me know I’m doing a good job,” she said. “It’s a joy for me. I like making people feel good and taking care of people. I don’t even say residents, because they’re more like family. We think of them as family, and they feel the same way about us, too.”

In the past four years, Seanna has shared her gift of laughter in her work as a CNA for Aberdeen Village.

“I try to help as much as I can,” she said. “I get them down to their activities. If there’s not an activity they want to do, I’ll break out in a dance. If there's a food they don’t like, I’ll go find something else for them.”

When she’s not at work, Seanna enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.

“We go out to eat, bowling, skating, anything that sounds fun,” she said. “They say, ‘Grandma I want to do it,’ and I try to make it happen.”

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