Why I Walk To The End

I am a finisher. I love to check things off my "To Do" list. Here's a secret. Sometimes, just for the fun of checking it off, I’ll put something on my list that I am just about to complete. A little "yeah, me!" It works to motivate me to keep up the effort. 

The idea that we can uncover a way to prevent or even reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s is so tantalizing, but not yet close enough to check off our list. For a finisher like me, advances in understanding or developing a cure for this disease makes me jump for joy.  Join our team to donate or walk together on October 6, 2012.

Why It's Personal

From my grandfather I learned to stash my candy hoard and to look for treasures in unlikely places. My grandfather must have started showing signs of early Alzheimer’s when I was a young child. He was in his early 60's and seemed to veer off into his own world a little bit more each time I would see him. I remember him to be a little bit grouchy. Sometimes he would tease me but mostly he kept to himself. As a child, I was intrigued when I learned he hid a stash of peanut brittle in his office of piled up books and papers. Of course, I had to sneak in to look for his stash. I only found it once and never again!

Both of my grandparents were professors at a small, Christian college in Texas: Abilene Christian University. When they retired, my grandmother taught in Puerto Rico while my grandfather sent letters and resumes for a job he would not find. Later, my grandmother was honored by the American Association of University Women. She gave a speech and the picture of her proud and happy smile is still with me. Later that same evening, my grandfather wandered off into downtown San Diego. Was he looking for his own past glory days? By that time, it was clear he could not be trusted to care for himself.

My grandmother cared for him while Parkinson’s and osteoporosis weighed her down with the effects of these disease. She put up with her husband’s outbursts, wanderings and "games" with little jokes and smoothing over his deficiencies. Her mind was sharp until the end. She loved him and did not want to live apart from him, even when their church asked her not to bring him as "he disturbed other people".

Watching him decline and the toll it took on my grandmother, my uncle, and our family, I wondered how someone with so much mental ability could not remember his own address. Now, as I work with clients who have lost brain function, I have a better understanding. We all have a primal need to both care for ourselves and to be cared for, even as mental capacity slowly slips away.

Living A Legacy

My grandfather lived inside a world of his own making but he had a supportive family around him, even if he did not remember who they were. When there is no suitable family nearby, wisdom says, search out someone trust worthy to handle what you cannot do for yourself any longer, while you still have the choice. This is one way to care for ourselves and protect the legacy we will leave behind.

Someday, there will be a cure or a way to halt the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease. We seem so close. Until then I will continue to Walk To The End. This is one way I am living my legacy; today for a future I may not see, but which I hope will be. 

Join our team. Let’s walk together in body or in spirit on October 6, 2012.