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My grandfather (who we all called Grandpop) died when Catherine was just two weeks old, but he slipped away years before that. He had Alzheimer’s, and while he lived to be 89 years old, he really wasn’t living anymore. I didn’t see him a lot, being that he lived quite a few states away from my home, but each time I did see him, he was a little worse. The last time I visited him was in 1994, when a friend and I made a road trip to New Jersey. He was living in a nursing home full time then, and had no clue who I was, but we had a nice visit despite it.
He was always wonderful to me. He could be a little gruff with the adults in his life, but that comes from a lifetime in the business world, I suppose. You don’t get to be the king of the propane industry by letting people walk all over you. He clearly adored my grandmother, and I can still picture him walking into the kitchen in their home, wearing his blue cardigan, and asking her, “Mother, what’s for dinner?” Sure, he might tell me to get my feet off the couch while I watched TV, but he’d also give me a kiss when I went to bed and say “Night night, don’t let the bedbugs bite!” (I still say that to my own kids when I tuck them in!) And as you can see from the picture I’ve got here of Grandpop letting my 6 year old niece play beauty shop with his hair, he was a big softie. He spent hours in his office at home, working, and then watching baseball on TV. When he started getting forgetful, he spent a little more time watching baseball, and a little less time working. As his Alzheimer’s progressed, my grandmother put him into a day care for Alzheimer’s patients. The last summer he spent at home was the summer I spent at their house. I was 16. Shortly after that, my grandmother was forced to put him into a home so that he could receive round the clock care. And in the first week of January 1995, he passed away.
Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease - probably more so than other diseases because we don’t know why it affects certain people and not others, we don’t know what causes it, and we can’t cure it. Alzheimer’s robs people of their dignity, and their livelihood. It puts incredible strain on the families who have to watch a loved one fade away a little more each day. Today, I was told about the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, which is an across the nation event designed to raise money and awareness and hopefully put a stop to Alzheimer’s for good. If Alzheimer’s has touched you like it’s touched me, you can sign up to participate in the walk by joining as a team captain, like I did (more info below on that!) or a walker. The walk is a one day, 2 to 3 mile event, so it’s easy for anyone to participate. By signing up as a team captain, you can ask your coworkers, friends and family to walk with you to raise funds. There are 2 walks in my area in October, one in Ocala on 10/20/2007, and one in Orlando on 10/6/2007, which is the one I’ll be walking in. If you’re outside of Florida - never fear - you can visit the Alzheimer’s Association website to find a walk in your area.
As I mentioned above, I’ve signed up as a team captain for the Orlando walk - I’m hoping to convince Florida bloggers to come out and join me for this short walk. It’ll be a Breast Cancer 3-Day warm up for me personally, but the cause isn’t any less important just because we’re walking a shorter distance. If you’re within driving distance of Orlando, PLEASE consider joining me! Just leave me a comment and I can share all of the details with you. Or, you can search the site for our team - the team name is Bloggers For A Cure.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Daily Happenings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Aww, if I lived closer I would. I’m in Valdosta just over the Ga/Fl line.