I remember when I was young we took a trip to England and visited my grandmother who still lived there. She lived in a nursing home as she had suffered from Alzheimer and old age. I was only 11 at the time and have not seen my grandmother since I was 4 years old so I only had some vague memories of her. We wouldn’t speak over the phone and the only correspondence I had with her during those years were by greeting cards my parents would make me send her for the holidays. At the time I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t call her but I also never gave it much thought since I wasn’t aware it was an issue. It’s just the way it was.
But we were all excited about meeting her even if we didn’t all remember her (my sister was only 2 when we left). But our anticipation just made it harder when we got there. She didn’t know who we were. At my age and without understanding what her condition meant this was just devastating. My sister started crying and my parents tried to calm us down as they talked to my grandmother and showed her pictures of us and her from when we were younger. She actually did relate to the pictures and every now and then told us the same story over and over again.
Ever since that experience I have taken Alzheimer very personally. That’s why I am such a supporter of the Memory Walk. If you haven’t heard of the Memory Walk, it is an annual event that has taken place since 1989 and through these walks they have created awareness for Alzheimer and helped raise over $225 million to fight the disease. I hope to attend the Memory Walk this year and will be sponsoring other walkers too. I encourage you to do the same.
