Brenda Rodriguez’s family largely disappeared when she was was diagnosed with cancer in January 2022. They were afraid to say the wrong thing, or at least that’s what Rodriguez thinks.

Without help from friends and family, she couldn’t get to appointments at the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care in Augusta. And even more frustrating, she said, she couldn’t even stand up long enough to cook for her husband — a daily joy that had been taken away by her diagnosis and chemotherapy treatments.

Only one family member came out of the woodwork to help, driving well out of her way to appointments and cooking meals when Rodriguez wasn’t able to: Rodriguez’s cousin, Rae Ann Lajoie.

Rae Ann Lajoie helped a cousin during cancer treatments, quit her job to provide direct care to her mother who was dealing with dementia, adopted grandchildren and has fostered children. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Lajoie, 54, is, at her core, a giving person, Rodriguez said. She adopted a few of her own grandchildren and fosters others at her Vassalboro home, including four boys in the past year. Five years ago, she brought in a 28-year-old man through the state’s Shared Living program, which helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities find housing. He’s still living in her home.

After her mother was diagnosed with dementia, Lajoie quit her beloved job at Hannaford, where she’d been working for 30 years, to take care of her full time. Lajoie – who now runs a daycare with her partner, Jennifer Stevens – said it was more fulfilling than anything she’s ever done.

“They’re just givers, and Rae Ann continues to do that,” Rodriguez said of Lajoie and Stevens. “I mean, she’s still calling me, ‘Is there anything you need?’ … (Every) day or every weekend, she’s donating or doing something for someone.”

And there’s no end in sight to her generosity.

“I can’t wait for the day where I can go sit at a nursing home, sit at places where people have nobody, and just give them something to look forward to,” Lajoie said.