This past week has been emotionally draining. My friend at work lost her dad and a friend who's spouse also had EOAD passed away (ironically on Mike's birthday). I only got to know my friend Elena this past year. She is a member of the dinner group that gets together every month who all have young spouses with some form of dementia. I did not know her husband, but while at his wake, I was able to "meet" her husband through the beautiful display of pictures and video that was running throughout the night. As I looked at his pictures, I saw a handsome young husband and father - someone who had his entire future ahead of him. He may have been diagnosed when he was a little older than Mike, yet his was still far too young.
This disease destroys a person in SO MANY ways. Looking at a picture that Elena had of her husband a few days before he passed, I could not believe it was the same vibrant person staring back at me at the pictures on display. There are not many diseases that can destroy a person's body & mind in the way that Alzheimer's does. I will continue to fight for all those who can no longer speak for themselves.
Rest in Peace Jim.
Follow You, Follow Me: A Young Family's Journey With Young-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
1 comment:
I didn't know that Jim passed on Mike's Birthday. Maybe that means that we are bound together to do something to change the perception of this disease. Your words so aptly summed up this disease. It changed all those beautiful hopeful photos into the one I showed you on my phone. Young Onset Alzheimer's takes away your youth in a moment and we just don't know when that moment will begin. Ours was 9 months ago and yours has been so so much longer. Each day that we witness the ravages leaves us different. You, Karen, have been a blessing to me and I hope I can return that to you and Mike and those great kids of yours. Call on me at anytime and I will be there for you. We who walk this road have an intimate knowledge of the challenges. Use me.....I am here for you. Love, Elena
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