About Us

Who gets married, sells a home, moves, and starts a new business in the middle of a pandemic? Well, that’s exactly what Jim and Cindy Burton did. They married on June 20, 2020, sold one home, moved into another, and soon thereafter began researching the best route to starting a business together.

Both Jim and Cindy grew up in the small town of Bluefield, Va., and attended the same high school. Jim played sports while Cindy was a cheerleader. Both were in the high school band and participated in many other extracurricular activities. Not long after graduation, Jim married, moved to the New River Valley and raised his family while continuing his education and pursuing a career in business. Jim became successful salesperson, especially in medical and pharmaceutical sales. A couple years after Jim graduated, it was Cindy’s turn. She stayed in the Bluefield area for many years, married, continued her education and worked in a variety of fields, including healthcare and graphic design, and eventually became a special education teacher. She moved to the New River Valley when she began her teaching career at Blacksburg High School in 2008.

Fast forward about 30 years from those carefree high school days. Jim lost his wife of 28 years to cancer in 2009. Cindy faced a similar fate when her husband of 30 years was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer the same year and passed away in 2013. Because of these experiences, Jim and Cindy completely understand the importance of having compassionate and competent caregivers in the home when they are needed most to support a loved one and spouse.

In 2019, with a little encouragement and prompting from a mutual friend, Jim and Cindy reconnected. That’s when life started to make sense again. They became engaged on Halloween and began planning a June 2020 wedding with a festive reception to celebrate and honor their friends and family who had cared about them and had walked with them through the difficult years. Covid canceled the reception plans, but not the wedding. With only a minister and his wife present, Jim and Cindy said their vows and began a whole new chapter of their lives.

Jim and Cindy shared many memories, had lived through similar experiences, and had common interests — one of which was to become business owners. This was something both had thought about, but in previous years had never been able to seriously pursue. They wanted to run a business, but not just any business. They wanted to find a need and create a business to meet that need. They wanted to identify a problem and create something to solve that problem. They wanted to do something that would be of great benefit to others and really make a difference in other people’s lives and in their community.

Even before Covid, the need for senior care was ever increasing; after Covid, the need for quality care for an aging population became vital. What better industry choice could there be than one that provides services to seniors, so they can live safely and with dignity in the comfort of their own homes? The industry was decided, and after some research, Amada Senior Care became the obvious choice.