Those of you who knew my Mom know she was an amazing woman.  I am lucky to have had her as my mother.  She has been so involved in all aspects of my life - from volunteering at my kindergarten class to helping me move to and from Texas, she has always been there.  Did you know she has helped me choose and buy all three of my houses so far?  She went with me on all my house visits, helped me to choose the best one that fit my requirements at the time, and has been instrumental in me setting up my own homes.  So really my Mom has been involved in all of the places I have lived.  Yes - she also met me in London when I studied abroad.

But in the future any new home I choose will be without her physical presence.  Why?  My Mom passed away on April 17, 2023 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2020 (and diagnosed with Dementia in 2019).  She was taken too soon.

Nobody deserves to lose their Mom, or their Dad or other family member, to Alzheimer's.  It's a cruel disease - it slowly steals away the person you know.  We have been saying goodbye to my Mom in some respects since 2020.  That is why I am supporting the Alzheimer's Association, why I have started this Team, and why I will participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer's again this year.  And I absolutely do not expect you to join me in any of this, but I welcome you if you choose to do so.

I will always remember my Mom as the person with a clipboard who helped ensure my friend's wedding went off without a hitch, as the person who color coded the scorecard when she kept the book at my softball games and painstakingly put together the stats for all the players, as the person yelling on the sidelines at all my soccer games, as the person who taught me how to cook before I headed off for college, as the person who (along with my Dad) surprised me at my college award ceremony, as the person who loved to help me with my art homework and also helped (more reluctantly) with my English homework, as the person who knit me all the sweaters throughout the years and taught me to knit, as the person who.... you get the picture.  What's your favorite memory of my Mom?