There are a couple of factors that led me to join Team R2R. First, I had decided a number of years ago that I wanted to run the New York City Marathon this year. I had volunteered to hand out medals at the finish line and one of the women I gave a medal to was beaming at me as I was congratulating her and putting the metal around her neck. She told me that she was 75 and was proud of herself for having just finished the Marathon. She inspired me to run on my next “big” birthday. So I ran my 9 races and volunteered and got a number (which I turned in a couple of years to make sure I had one for this year).
Then last summer, while running in Central Park one weekend morning, I saw a group of women running with Alzheimer’s Association shirts on. As my father has Alzheimer’s it piqued my curiosity. When I got home I went on line and discovered that the NYC Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is a Charity associated with the NYC Marathon. In the meantime, for the past 3 summers I have been riding my bicycle and raising money for MS. While it is a worthy cause, it is one that, fortunately, I do not have much of a personal connection to. I found it rewarding to take an activity I enjoy and combine it with helping a worthy cause. So it did not take much to make the leap to running the Marathon and raising money for a cause that is near and dear to my heart.
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease about 5 years ago. He has been on medication and his progress has been relatively slow. We have been lucky – my father still knows his family and surroundings, but little by little he is losing his ability to function on his own. My mother has been so wonderful with him and her patience incredible. I admit, I don’t like to talk about it too much as it often brings tears to my eyes as I think about how my father has become a shadow of the man he was. We are also lucky in that he has not gotten angry or violent and has maintained his sweet loving nature through it all.
I know there are many families out there who do not have the resources (financially and time wise) to take care of their loved one who cannot take care of him/herself and I know that the programs and assistance offered by the Alzheimer’s Association are crucial to those people. For me, I would just like to see a cure for this disease, so that others do not have to go through what my family and I do and helplessly watch as the disease progresses with their loved one.
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