Monday, November 29, 2004

Thelma and Louise

Several years ago I met a couple of women who are big Kenny Rogers fans. They contacted me when our venue was hosting Kenny Rogers for a two night concert. Their names are not Thelma and Louise but I started calling them that because they have such a zest for life and a little crazy -- I say that affectionately. When I started calling me them that they didn't even know who Thelma and Louise were so they watched the movie and called me and said "But we didn't kill anyone!" -- which is true of course, but they still remind me of Thelma and Louise.

Last night I went to a Kenny Rogers concert with Thelma and Louise in Atlanta. It is my second concert with them. Last night marked their 896th concert of Kenny Rogers -- yes, 896. It is rather amazing -- and they love him more today than they did years ago when they started going to concerts.

Thelma and Louise are sisters and this is their passion (obviously) -- but they are so happy when they are doing it -- I can't imagine being that happy over something you have seen 896 times! But that is what makes life interesting -- those types of people and thank God for them. I love these women -- they have become friends in a short time. I wish I had their enthusiasm for life!


Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is amazing how time flies isn't it? My son is coming home tonight and staying for a few days. That always seems to cheer me up. I'm grateful he takes time for his family and always has.

This hasn't been a real good week for me. And, the bad thing is that when I have a bad time, it is very difficult for me to find the right words to tell somebody about it. Usually my husband picks up on it and helps me along but he hasn't been doing that lately -- I think he is just missing the cues. But, I can't tell him about it because I can't find the right words to express myself. Never having had a problem with expressing myself before, this makes it even more difficult to deal with. I guess it goes back to the "aloneness" of Alzheimer's -- you feel so alone because you can't communicate effectively. I guess the upside to that is that if I can't tell anyone that I'm having a problem I'm less of a burden!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Thanksgiving

Gosh -- next week is Thanksgiving. The time certainly flies. We have finally finished up pretty much everything on our Memory Walk and we brought in almost $30,000. We are so pleased with the effort...and the good thing is everyone is on board again for next year. This committee of ladies that worked on the event this year were so great and caring. I just hope that I will be able to help in some capacity -- I hate to make too many committments too far out because I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in at that time.

The holidays mean more to me now and I know that everyone says that we take everything for granted.....and we do. That is a real shame isn't it? It seems like something bad has to happen in order for you to realize that. And, I really don't want presents I want time with my friends and family. That is the most important thing to me.


Saturday, November 06, 2004

2004 Memory Walk

Well, our Memory Walk is history. The day was truly amazing. Seeing all those people come together for our cause was very touching and humbling to me. We had hoped for about 300 people and we came close to that. The Alz. Office is counting our money but we are hopeful that we reached our $20,000 goal. The weather turned out great and the walk was awesome.

I can't thank everyone enough for the hours they put into making this happen along with everyone who donated money. Thanks to all of you reading this that made that happen!

One thing that struck me is that strangers called me during the week after seeing the publicity in the paper and asked if they could come out and volunteer. I know people volunteer all the time but to have people just call, without knowing anyone else or doing it with a group is amazing to me. Maybe I don't give people enough credit -- because like I said, I know people volunteer all the time, but it usually a case where they are tied to the cause or have family or friends involved and they want to help. But that wasn't the case with some of those that showed up to work today -- they just wanted to help.

One of my friends had surgery on her foot and she came to the walk in a motorized wheelchair so she could "walk" with us. The funny thing about it is, that she had the surgery two weeks ago and never told me. We talk on the phone but we don't see each other very often. She didn't tell me because she knew that I was working hard on the walk and she knew (or she thought anyway) that I would be over there helping her and worrying about her and not working on the Memory Walk. You can imagine how surprised I was when she showed up in a wheelchair. That's friendship. And, that's friendship you don't find real often.

I am truly fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life. My friends and family pitched in where ever they saw something that needed to be done and I cannot express my gratitude enough.

When we find out how much money we raised I will let you know. Thanks again for your love and support.