I have been actively mourning the loss of my Nana for a little over a year now. Her physical body is still with us and at times I get small snippets of the woman I’ve known my whole life, but Alzheimer’s has slowly taken her from me.
Most of the time when I look in her eyes now, I don’t see the glimmer she once had. That sparkle that enjoyed life, loved her family fiercely, and would do anything for anyone. Everyone she met was her “favorite” and everything she experienced was “the best”. She knew everyone’s birthdays and made every holiday magical. I was, and am blessed to call her my Nana.
Somedays when I see her now she doesn’t totally know who I am. And then like the flip of a switch she remembers how blonde I was when I was little, or how she's "loved me since the day I was born". I used to hold on to the fact that she's always known I'm someone she knows and loves, but that slowly has changed also.
I have never been extremely public about this fight my Nana and our family is going through. At one point I was worried someone would see her and say the wrong thing; I wanted to spare her any level of distress. As her disease has progressed, so has that philosophy: I am no longer silent.
I am actively participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer's so one day a grandmother won't forget she's "loved her granddaughter since the day she was born". One day a granddaughter won't have to watch the essence her Nana fade away in front of her eyes from this disease.
I ask you to please donate to my Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Anyone’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
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