Peripatetic Musings

I’m walking to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association, http://alz.org. You can see my personal fundraising page at http://act.alz.org/goto/michelecox.

When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it was the Alzheimer’s Association that gave us detailed information on what to expect, and it’s the Alzheimer’s Association that started the Safe Return program (with Medic Alert), so that she and her husband had matching bracelets and if she wandered, she could be found more quickly. They gave information and help and support to our family when we really needed it.

They also fund research into ways to prevent, ameliorate, or cure Alzheimer’s disease. Since 1982, alz.org — the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research — has committed $292 million to more than 2,000 grant proposals.

My mother died of Alzheimer’s disease in May of 2012.

My family tends to be long-lived; I should have had another 20 years of my mother’s wit, compassion, intelligence, insight, and love. Instead, Alzheimer’s stole the last ten years of my mother’s life from her and from her husband, from me, from my sister, and from everyone who knew her.

No one should have to go through that.

By 2050, though, as many as sixteen million people are expected to have Alzheimer’s disease. That’s not just sixteen million lives cut short, or sixteen million minds deprived of their vision, clarity, power, and creativity. It’s sixteen million times all the children, partners, lovers, friends, and caregivers whose lives are catastrophically disrupted, whose hopes and dreams and expectations for their own and their loved one’s future are broken and betrayed.

Please help me help the Alzheimer’s Association continue to fund research and support patients and families. If you can donate, that’s wonderful — the smallest amounts add up faster than you would believe. If you can’t donate, please feel free to signal boost — I appreciate it a lot.

Thank you, so very, very much.