Throughout the later half of 2021, both my aunt and I had begun to notice something seemingly “off” in terms my mom’s cognitive abilities. It varied from things such as forgetting where she would put her keys for work to getting lost when she would be going to meet someone like my aunt for lunch or just to go shopping. My aunt spearheaded the process of trying to get an initial baseline established with a neurologist, and after we learned of what may be a potential cause for the changes we ended up getting a second opinion and the new diagnosis turned out to be consistent with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s. 

Her diagnosis caught both me and my aunt completely by surprise in April of 2022, as it came a month before I was set to do my first deployment with the Navy and she was actively working as a nurse. Over the next two years the family both in state and out of state worked tirelessly to try and figure out what would work best for mom in terms of treatment options as some days she would seem like her old self and other days she was a completely different person. 

The inspiration for participating in the walk comes from my mom as both my aunt and I have said that she carried herself with more grace and dignity throughout this whole ordeal than either of us ever would have. The team name also came from my mom, as I had asked her to design me a tattoo in her handwriting prior to her no longer being able to write steadily or focus on conversations for long periods of time. It came from the question of “What is one piece of advice you would give to someone, whether it be your best friend or a complete stranger?”. The phrase “Just Do For You” can be left up to interpretation, but it’s been a powerful source of inspiration for our family when navigating her diagnosis and learning how best to support and help her.