October 13, 2013
The Alzheimer's Foundation is very close to my heart. For years I've thought about being a part of their Thanksgiving Memory Walk & Run, but I hate to run. I realized that there is an option to walk, so it was a done deal.
Alzheimer's scares me. More than most things. My grandma & grampa were incredible people who were perfect in the role of grandparents. My grampa got Alzheimer's and, at a young age, I watched it rip out the beautiful person that he was and replace him with a confused man. Shortly after he passed, my grandma developed dementia. It was extremely hard to be a young teenager whose grandparents didn't recognize me. It's even harder to envision how they felt. The confusion and unknown is heartbreaking. Can you imagine being married to someone for over 50 years, but not recognize them sitting right next to you? Almost 20 years later, it still makes me cry. I believe that we would have had a very strong relationship as I grew older and we missed out on that. These awful diseases claimed two incredible people in my life.
Alzheimer's is believed to be passed down genetically through the same sex (of course, amongst other things). As I get older, and so do my parents, I worry about my dad more and more. He's so healthy and strong. He takes great care of himself, but there will always be the lingering thought of 'what if' - and that is terrifying.
I signed up for the walk in May and had my inspiring friends, Jenn & Kristi, join my team. We came up with the goal to raise $500 between the three of us. Jenn was going to host an event and shave her head! I wasn't worried about this three person goal, so decided to set a personal goal of $500. This seemed a bit daunting, but hey, it's worth it!
Right away, I posted online about the walk and that I was raising funds and two wonderful women, whom I'd only just met a few weeks earlier, donated almost immediately. I had high hopes.
Then nothing, for a couple of months. That's alright; I didn't really pursue the funds. On September 18th, I posted again online about raising funds. One of my husband's colleagues at the office in Montreal saw the post and shared it amongst her coworkers. Donations came pouring in, mostly from people I had never met. Some were from people that didn't even work for the same company as my husband and his colleague! It was so touching. In that one day I went from $80 in donations to well over $400!
I continued to post for the remaining few weeks and ended up raising $710. I was blown away! The generosity of those around me is incredibly touching and it will be forever in my heart. The morning of the walk, I was excited. Upon arrival, we checked in and received t-shirts as well as a bag of goodies (fitness magazines and other excerpts). We had a breakfast sandwich and then decided to scope it all out. The event took over all of Eau Clare Market, so we took a stroll around.
We went over to 'Memory Lane', a fantastic set up that they had at the beginning of the walk & run path. They had clips and string for people to post pictures and messages that pertained to why they were participating. I had asked all of the people who donated if they would want something clipped up in their honor. A few people did and it felt great to pay tribute to their loved ones on their behalf.
While checking out the Memory Lane, we were approached by someone from the foundation and asked to do video interviews, which Jenn & I were all over. We each did an individual interview and both became emotional. I remember saying that, "I am not just here for my grandparents. I'm here for my dad, mom & sister as well. Even though we weren't the ones with the disease, we all went through so much because of it".
The warm up was set to begin fairly soon, so we went into the main area to prepare. While standing around chatting, Kristi noticed the mayor walk past. I'm so glad that she did because I've been wanting to hug him for a while now (sometimes you've just got to hug the mayor!).
I approached him and politely said excuse me. He turned around and greeted me with a huge smile and a hand ready to be shaken. I asked for a hug instead and he said, "of course". It was lovely.
The next thing he did was spot my sticker that read who I was there for and said, "tell me about Bob & Olive". He sincerely thanked me for being there. I was touched. Here's a man who I was in awe of, thanking me for being a part of something when all I could feel was thankful that he was there. His presence gave us all such a boost. That was pretty special.
I think it was at that point that it really hit me. This thing that I was a part of was bigger than the money that I had raised or my past and it was especially bigger than me. I was a small part in something incredible.
The warm up started and we were right at the front (much to Kristi's chagrin). They had a few speeches and everyone was really excited to get going.
They started with the 10k runners, then the 5k runners and last but not least, the 5k walkers. Of course, Mayor Nenshi was standing at the starting line giving as many high fives as possible. We started walking and people all around us were cheering. There were dogs and kids walking, too. The energy was incredible!
We walked towards the water and then followed the Bow River Path Way to the Center Street Bridge. I love that bridge. The architecture is really neat.
Along the way, volunteers were dispersed to direct changes in the path. We cheered at them and Jenn made sure to give every single one of them a high five. Because she's awesome like that! (No, that wasn't sarcasm. She is awesome like that!)
At the half way point, the volunteers had a water station and port-a-potties (ew). We stopped for record fast peets (seriously ew), but made sure to catch up with our new friends again.
We took the Memorial Dr. path till we reached the Peace Bridge. This was my first time on that bridge. Yes, it's over priced, but it was really cool!
After crossing, we were back on the Bow River Path Way and in no time at all we were walking through Memory Lane and at the finish line again. The walk took a little over an hour, but it felt like only a few minutes. That's what great company will do! It was so nice to spend that time with Jenn & Kristi. They're such wonderful and inspiring women whom I'm lucky to have in my life.
They had pizza for everyone and prizes were given out right away. And then it was over. All of the people left and the day went on. It felt sudden, but satisfying. I went home and had a great kitty snuggle (as I do).
I didn't realize it at the time, but this is the most significant item on my list. Writing this blog entry took a few days and a few tears. It's been 16 years since my grampa passed, but he will always be in my heart. I'm so happy to be able to honor him and my beautiful grandma in any way.
Why did I wait so long to take that walk...
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