Spotlight: Marvin Scott
Each week we will be picking members to spotlight to tell their Alzheimer's story and why they are running in this year's New York City marathon. Check in each
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday for new updates on who will be spotlighted and get to know your teammates...(each person is picked at random)
I’m sure that my story
is similar to many individuals dealing with a loved one suffering from
Alzheimer’s. Initially, it was thought that some of the signs were
simply the normal effects of aging taking its toll. But as time
progressed, it became evident that something was wrong and action needed to be
taken. The transition can be difficult when the parent-child
relationship is reversed and the child must become the
caregiver. Always a fiercely independent and headstrong woman, my mother
was not in favor of anyone “taking care of her.” But with my sister
and I both leaving our hometown of Detroit to pursue our careers, our concerns
for our mother’s well being began to grow. Fortunately, after many
difficult discussions, and help from friends, doctors and other family members,
we were able to bring our mother down to Texas to live with us. It
was quite a relief to move past the anxiety and fear for our mother’s day to
day safety to focus on the care and treatment of her disease.
My mother never smoked,
never drank and exercised almost daily, so it seemed tragically ironic that
someone who lived such a healthy lifestyle would have her mind fail her before
her body would. Even to this day, my mother has incredible strength
and agility for a woman in her seventies and regularly gets the best of us on
family bowling outings. Although her memory has diminished
significantly, she is still able to enjoy and take pleasure in life’s
experiences day by day and this, we have come to cherish. We now
focus on celebrating the moments we are able to experience together rather than
the times she can no longer remember. My mother is a woman that
always made sure that her children maintained a healthy lifestyle by staying
physically active, so running the marathon as a part of the Run 2 Remember Team
seemed like an incredibly appropriate way to honor her.
I’m sure that my story
is similar to many individuals dealing with a loved one suffering from
Alzheimer’s. Initially, it was thought that some of the signs were
simply the normal effects of aging taking its toll. But as time
progressed, it became evident that something was wrong and action needed to be
taken. The transition can be difficult when the parent-child
relationship is reversed and the child must become the
caregiver. Always a fiercely independent and headstrong woman, my mother
was not in favor of anyone “taking care of her.” But with my sister
and I both leaving our hometown of Detroit to pursue our careers, our concerns
for our mother’s well being began to grow. Fortunately, after many
difficult discussions, and help from friends, doctors and other family members,
we were able to bring our mother down to Texas to live with us. It
was quite a relief to move past the anxiety and fear for our mother’s day to
day safety to focus on the care and treatment of her disease.
My mother never smoked,
never drank and exercised almost daily, so it seemed tragically ironic that
someone who lived such a healthy lifestyle would have her mind fail her before
her body would. Even to this day, my mother has incredible strength
and agility for a woman in her seventies and regularly gets the best of us on
family bowling outings. Although her memory has diminished
significantly, she is still able to enjoy and take pleasure in life’s
experiences day by day and this, we have come to cherish. We now
focus on celebrating the moments we are able to experience together rather than
the times she can no longer remember. My mother is a woman that
always made sure that her children maintained a healthy lifestyle by staying
physically active, so running the marathon as a part of the Run 2 Remember Team
seemed like an incredibly appropriate way to honor her.
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