This Walk is personal for me.  

I have had Alzheimer's disease in my life ever since I can remember...we used to say senility or hardening of the arteries... but it was Alzheimer's disease.  First, my Grandmother had it...we spent a lot of time in the nursing home when I was a child. She passed away when I was 6 years old.  

Then my grandfather had it.  I remember many late-night phone calls when he would wander and become lost, or later in the disease when he became angry and violent...that he'd been kicked out of yet another nursing home for his bad behavior.  One Christmas he became so angry that he lashed out at my mom and she ended up in the hospital.

My Aunt, Violet also had the disease...she was one of the most fun vibrant people I ever knew. 

Then my mom. That one was the most difficult to watch. If I knew then what I know now, I would have handled things much differently. The Alzheimer's Association has taught me so much and they can help anyone in that situation feel more empowered/

It's an ugly, ugly disease that robs families of the person they love and leaves a mere shell of that person for years.  

My siblings are now in the age of greatest risk and I am terrified of this disease striking our family again.  I'm terrified of getting it myself and putting my husband through what my father went through as a caregiver.

This is why I walk...This Walk is personal.

Please donate today.  Thank you.