Memory Walk

Memory Walk was this past Saturday and it was a beautiful day. I've posted some various photos but I don't have one of our whole team yet. I'm waiting for someone to send me that! But thanks to my whole team for coming out, raising almost $15,000 for the cause and all those that donated! I love you all!

Maria Shriver

appeared this morning on ABC's new program This Week this morning to talk about the Shriver report which I mentioned in my post below. If you missed it, here is the link -- just click on the Maria Shriver photo for the video. http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek Ms. Shriver's complete report will be released on Tuesday October 19th. The Shriver Report main emphasis is the role women play in Alzheimer's. I was privileged to be part of this report. If you care about Alzheimer's -- please get a copy of this, share with everyone you know. The more we discuss this, the better off we will be.

She makes some compelling arguments. The government needs to pass the legislation of the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA). We are the only civilized country that does not have a plan to deal with Alzheimer's. That is sad. Urge your federal legislature to sign on to this bill. For more information on this please go to http://www.alz.org/national/documents/Alz_Project_Act_2-24-10.pdf

Alzheimer's in the News

Many of you may have some press today about "The Shriver Report" titled "A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's". It was released today by Maria Shriver and the Alzheimer's Association. You may know that Maria's father has Alzheimer's and she has championed the cause.

There will be a series next week on ABC News about Alzheimer's and it is on the cover of Time Magazine this week. A lot of work has gone into this and you may enjoy reading it.

Here is link to the report on the Alzheimer's Association website.
http://www.alz.org/shriverreport/index.html

My son came home this past weekend for my birthday. It was a quick trip -- but it was nice to have him home just the same. We went out to play golf on Sunday morning and had someone snap this photo of us at the golf course. Although Alan is not a Georgia Bulldog, he did agree to have his photo taken under the Bulldog sign.

I guess I don't realize how much I miss my son, until I see him. I guess that is the way with most parents.

I know I haven't written in awhile. I have been reading some other Alzheimer's blogs lately and when I read them, I feel so inadequate in writing this blog as they all seem to have some profound things to say. I many times, have profound thoughts (or at least I think they are) but then I can't translate them onto the page. That's frustrating.

I turned the big 55 this past weekend. When I turned 30 or 40 or even 50 it didn't bother me. Turning 35 bothered me and this one has. But, if you had asked me eight years ago when I was diagnosed with younger on-set Alzheimer's if I would be bothered by my 55th birthday, I probably would have said "I'll be lucky to be alive by then". So, I guess I shouldn't let it bother me --I'm still here!