From age five I grew up in Michigan with my maternal
grandfather, John Koval, and I have some of the best memories of my childhood
with him. Memories of him taking my brother and I fishing, swimming,
eating giant bowls of ice cream, him pulling me around in a wagon, taking me to
soccer practice, I could go on for a while... After finishing
college and then moving out of state in 2004, visits home to Detroit became
less frequent, but I could always count on a huge hug from Grandpa when I came through
the door. The time between these visits home however, made it clear
that something was progressively going wrong with him.
Several years ago I received the horrible, but not surprising
news that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It progressed slowly
at first, however the past couple years have gotten very rough. It's
heartbreaking to watch not only my Grandpa struggle, but the rest of my family
suffer through the pain of watching him drift away. Though it is obvious
that he's well into the later stages of the disease, not remembering to eat,
unable to remember names, he somehow still remembers me, and I fear the day he
doesn't. Even though he won't understand, I am so happy to be able to
tell my Grandpa that I'm running for him, because I love him and miss him so
much. I'm also running for my Mom and my Grandma, who are true heroes in
my eyes, taking care of my Grandpa every day with amazing patience.
My fraternal grandmother, Patricia Ternus, was also diagnosed
with Alzheimer's several years ago. Unfortunately I did not have the
priviledge of having her in my life as much, but I knew her to be a beautiful,
strong, successful woman. After she was placed in an assisted living
facility I made a trip to visit her, leaving heartbroken from what this
horrible disease did to such an intelligent woman, and saddened by the fact
that I didn't get to know her as well as I wish I had.
Though dealing with the effects of Alzhiemer's disease on my
family has become a part of my life, the education and support I've gained from
the Alzheimer's Association has been such a blessing. Being involved in
the fight against the disease is so important to me.
I have been a pretty regular runner for the past 10 years,
completing my first half marathon in 2009 in Nashville, TN. Since
then it's been a goal of mine to run a marathon; entering the NYC
Marathon lottery the past two years with unsuccessful results. And
then this year I decided to apply to join the Run 2 Remember Team.
I could not be happier that I didn't win a spot through the
lottery! This experience means so much more to me because I'm
doing it for a cause that is so dear to my heart. It means so much
for me to be able to run on this team, and raise money and awareness
towards fighting Alzheimer's!
I am honored to be on this team, and I truly cannot wait for
November!
GO BIG OR GO HOME!
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