Maria Blogs

My maternal grandfather died of Alzheimer’s disease before wide research has been done on it and certainly way before it became a commonly-used word. A well respected pillar of the community, reduced to wandering around in a daze for days and leaving everyone gripped in terror of where he could have ended up. He would show up at one of our stores after days of being away to God knows where like nothing happened, he didn’t even know what happened.

Those were the days when he could still walk. As the disease worsens he was reduced to being in a wheelchair, barely speaking, and definitely not recognizing anyone. Those were the most heartbreaking moments for my mom and her siblings. The whispers also started. You know how it is in small towns. There’s a disease, no one quite know it’s a disease, everyone knows everyone else’s business, and what they don’t know they make up. So people started talking. My grandfather, they say, is a deranged man, a lunatic. But of course he wasn’t.

I share my grandfather’s birthday so I will never forget his. I try not tell people when I give to charity but there is a good opportunity for others to join the fight against Alzheimer’s, this disease that has caused a lot of pain for a lot of people.

One of the worst things that can happen to us and to our loved ones is to lose our memory, our history, our storybook of life. The Alzheimer’s Association of America is sponsoring a “Memory Walk – Taking steps to end Alzheimer’s” – a special event where everyone from all over the country can participate.

It’s easy to sign up as an individual or as a Team Captain. As an individual, you can put in a donation, show up and walk with other memory walkers. As a Team Captain, you can organize your own group, have a fund goal and walk as a team when the day arrives.

Different chapters around the country are holding this synchronized memory walk and it is an event that everyone should participate in, whether as a walker or as a sponsor. It’s a disease that’s close to us. Cancer is a devastating disease but you always know what’s happening. Alzheimer’s rob you of even the chance to properly say your goodbyes.

To sign up just go to the memory walk web site and start your team today. I probably will not be in top shape in time for this event having just had my C-section and a new baby but I am thinking of talking to one of my cousins and see if I can sponsor him to walk for me [I need funds!].

I hope you’ll visit the web site and if you can’t participate yourself, sponsor somebody or spread the word. Let’s preserve memory lane for us and our children.