I'm Walking to End Alzheimer's! Please Help My Cause!!!

Alzheimer's is a disease that currently affects 5 million patients.  It is estimated to affect 50 million by the year 2050. 

Alzheimer's is a disease that pull the curtains over a person's memories and personality, and steals away the essence of who that person at one point was. 

My grandfather was diagnosed with this monster of a disease when I was 16.  We realized something serious was wrong when, one afternoon, my grandparents went to a Holocaust Survivor's meeting in Manhattan.  My grandfather was never one to like crowds so he told my grandmother he'd meet her at the car, and he left 15 minutes early.  Upon arriving at the car, my grandmother found the car, unlocked, but my grandfather was not there.  She had to call 911 because she doesn't drive.  The police officers kindly drove the car home.  While all of this was happening, I had been trying to reach them at home.  I called and called and when it reached 7PM, I began to get worried that nobody was answering the phone.  Finally, at 7:30 my grandfather answered the phone.  Then and there I knew something was wrong.  Where was my grandmother?  My grandfather NEVER answered the phone.  EVER.  It was always my grandmother's job.  To make a long story short, we never figured out how my grandfather got home.  He could not remember.  We will never know.

We took the car away from him and from that point on, his health deteriated.  Starting in 2001, my grandfather became more difficult to take care of.  My grandmother was having difficulty at home because he wa becoming unable to do things for himself.  In December 2002, when my mom and I were on a plane home from a vacation in the Bahamas, my grandfather suffered a massice heart attack.  My grandmother found him lying in the bathroom and it took the ambulance service an hour to revive him.  He stayed in the hospital for about 3 weeks and then we had no choice but to place him in a nursing home.  The lack of oxygen to his brain from when he was lying unconscious in the bathroom exaserbated the Alzheimer's.  He became unable to talk.  He lost his love for food.  And in the last week of his life, he didn't recognize me, despite having only recognized me and no one else up to that point.

My grandfather loved life.  He came to The United States a Holocaust survivor.  He started his life here as a baker's apprentice in Washington Heights (upper NYC) and with no formal education, because one of the most successful life insurance salesmen at Mutual of New York.  What he was most proud of, even more then the success in his career, was his family.  He had 2 daughters, my aunt and my mom, and then of course, me.  When I was born, I became the apple of his eye.  When my dad died when I was 2, my grandfather stepped in and took his place as a father figure.  He and I were buddies.  We did everything together and his smiles and laughter, and the feeling of his hugs, and his arms around me when I was sititng on his lap reading a book, are so vivid in my mind.  I can still feel the little hairs on his hands when I held them.  We used to go around his neighborhood collecting chestnuts.  We'd play catch with a tennis ball in the garden of my grandparents apartment building.  We'd play Scrabble, Monopoly and a plethora of card games.  He took me shopping.  He was at every school event or recital; every birthday party.  He took me along when he met with clients and always bragged about my accomplishments.  He was my best friend.

All of the memories we had together were wiped away by Alzheimer's.  As horrible as it is for the people suffering, it is so incredibly devistating to the family.  The family of an Alzheimer's patient is suffering also.

Your memories are what make you who you are.  Imagine having those memories ripped away from you.

With all of that said, I will be participating in Memory Walk (through the Alzheimer's Association) to end Alzheimer's on September 13th.  I will be walking in memory of my grandfather.  In order to walk, I am required to raise money.  I originally set my goal at $1000 but I was having such a positive response, I raised the goal to $1500. 

CLICK HERE to view my donation page. 

Please help me help those suffering, both patients and families, from this horrible disease.  Your donation will bring researchers one step closer to finding a cure to Alzheimer's Disease.  The closer researchers come to finding a cure, the close you come to immunity from it.  If you donate on my page in honor of or in memory of somebody, I will be writing that person's name on my arm, to honor those who have suffered and to thank those who've donated.

Every little bit helps and I thank you in advance!