It’s a good question, why. Don’t think I’ve completely figured it out for myself yet. I stumbled into it, but now I sense I am set on a new path.
My journey started when I registered for the New York City Marathon lottery 2 hours before the deadline. I had run a half marathon in Myrtle Beach on my 41st birthday in October 2010, and lately had become bothered by the word half. A nagging feeling - “Just half? Why didn’t you run the whole thing?” (I’ve felt they should call it a ‘thon’ instead.) I read an article a few days earlier that said if you think you’ll only run one marathon, run New York. I live in North Carolina but I love New York. The article also said it was a flat course. Perfect!!
~Click~. A couple of weeks later on Opening Day, I searched online for my entry number and screamed with mostly surprise and a bit of horror when Congratulated. Ready or not, I was in.
My Alzheimer’s connection is a parallel journey. My father’s father had suffered from it, he had been in a facility for terminally ill for years and died in 2005. We saw the same early symptoms as noted by others here – the repetitive questions, asking for his wife Mildred who was long gone. My mother’s mother is also stricken with the disease and now lives in a care facility. When knew it when she wandered, a stranger picked her up and tried to get her to a familiar place, passing several times by the church my grandmother attended every morning yet didn’t recognize. My family is in Delaware so I was far removed from much of this, but I did see the day-to-day lives of my parents affected. They’ve had a rough decade.
These journeys are now intertwined, having been accepted to run with Team Run 2 Remember. I’m taking my training for the Marathon very seriously, keeping up with my running during extensive business travel, and I have set a high fundraising goal for the Alzheimer’s Association. This has become even more relevant in recent weeks. We siblings have decided that it’s time for Dad to see a doctor. My Dad, the pilot, the navigator, who could find true North when blindfolded and upside down, now can’t remember where he parked the car. He’s repeating himself and has had behavioral episodes that are hard to explain. Everyone is scared.
I will have turned 42 on October 24 when I finish the 42nd NYC marathon. This all has to be happening for a reason. I hope that it gives me the strength and clarity I will need as my next journey unfolds.
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