Everyday People: 'Healing for your heart'

If $100,000 fell into Aimee Jambor's lap, she knows just what she'd do with it.

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Give most of it away - anonymously.

Jambor, the Brainerd School District nurse, speaks from experience. She's shopped for children's winter coats using an anonymous donor's financial gift. The coats went to children a Lowell Elementary School and children were thrilled and lit up with the gifts.

Aimee Jambor took a student's temperature at Brainerd High School's South Campus. As district nurse, Jambor oversees seven building sites. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey

"I think there is something really cool in watching people help other people and when it's anonymous it takes the debt or the 'I owe you something' back out of it, which means it's free for the person to give and free for the person to receive and just enjoy that blessing.

"I think that those acts of kindness that I've watched other people do, it's something that's very healing for your heart."

Jambor was a prenatal instructor at the Alternative Education Center for about 10 years and works as an adjunct faculty teaching a business management program with St. Scholastica.

Aimee Jambor

A place you'd like to see where you have never been: Italy. "I enjoy Italian food and I think I'd really like what that culture has to offer."

Best advice for stress management: "Let go and let God."

"Because stress does takes a huge toll on your body, to learn to really let go of those things you really have no control over."

Greatest adventure: A flight to Europe with her husband and no plan or schedule. No room reservations. "We probably had one of the best vacations of our life. Totally footloose, no phone, no plans, no schedule. We had such a ball. We stayed in great places."

Favorite book this year: "The Shaft."

Favorite movie: "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."

Gained inspiration from: Working in a nursing home when she was young. Jambor said she loved the conversations with the residents and the wisdom they gained throughout their lives as they talked about what they would do over again and what they'd like to repeat.

As district nurse, Jambor oversees seven building sites. She acts as a resource for students whether it's from a sports injury or an ongoing health concern like asthma or diabetes.

"I like the diversity a lot," Jambor said of the job. "You just really don't know what is going to happen for the day."

Nursing was a career Jambor identified with early on. She had the example at home as her mom was a nurse and she worked as an assistant at a nursing home when she was in high school. Later, Jambor spent 11 years working with patients in intensive care.

When she had the opportunity to teach at the college level, Jambor found she greatly enjoyed it. At the high school district nurse office, she found a job that brought nursing and teaching together. One of the aspects Jambor enjoys most is helping students make healthy choices that will serve them throughout their lives - such as quitting smoking or in proper nutrition.

"With what she's known and dealt with she is very suited for age levels nine through 12th," co-worker Connie Christensen said. "She's an incredible person. She maintains her level of professionalism within the medical world but she can get down to the 'mom level' of this age group to deal with whatever is thrown at her."

Jambor also serves as a resource for staff members when they have medical questions. And she offers advice and tips for those who want to get in better shape. The methods are simple, she said. But people have to make the decision to do it.

She organized a fitness group for faculty, which now includes 20 women, and she e-mails Friday fit tips that include healthy recipes.

"All of us have a bad habit we could break and replace with a good habit," Jambor said. "If you just did one thing this year not try to overhaul your whole life ... but if you did one thing and replaced it with a good habit that would be an improvement for you."

Examples: Walk five minutes a day. Cut out junk food while watching television at night. Do exercises during commercials, even five sit-ups at a time. Do toe lifts, five in a row, while washing dishes. Park farther away from the door. The trick is to incorporate exercise into the day - at least 10 to 15 minutes of it. Jambor said it doesn't have to be consecutive.

To be healthy - drink water, get regular exercise, get plenty of sleep and eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

"Honestly the things you need to do to be healthy are pretty simple, the question is why don't we choose to do it," Jambor said.

To stay fit, Jambor walks. In the summer, she "beach walks" traveling in ankle- or knee-deep water along Pelican lake.

In her free time, the married mother of four paints water color landscapes. She often uses Pelican Lake as an inspiration. She quilts and makes braided or crocheted rugs using denim and leather or batique fabrics. Jambor crochets and knits, making baby clothes as gifts. She enjoys time in the boat and fishing or cross-country skiing. As one who likes to cook, Jambor relishes the opportunity to pick berries and make sugar-free jams. She even plays keyboard at her church.

Christensen said: "She's our own Florence Nightingale."

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.