My Grammy is an amazing woman.  Among other things, she's a great cook and an amazing seamstress.  Both of which she tried to teach me.  Cooking I can handle - but I wish I had taken more time to learn proper technique and skill when it came to sewing.  Unfortunately she is no longer able to do either.

Two years ago, just before Luke and I moved to Scotland, I took Grammy to look for a swimsuit so that she could participate in water aerobics at her senior living center.  It was a hot day and the walk between two stores wore her out.  She passed out on me just as we got to the dressing room in Target.  It was the second time I had spent time with paramedics that week and was just a little bit scary.  However, they released her and I was able to take her home.  

In the car on the way back to her house was the first time that I had ever truly experienced the effects of dementia/Alzheimer's.  Something clicked in her head and all of a sudden I had become one of her nieces.  "Your mom is dead, right?" she asked me.  I think I was a bit in shock and told her no, that my mom was waiting for us at her apartment.  But I didn't know how to respond.  Do I go with the flow and continue on her train of thought or do I attempt to bring her back to reality which could upset her?  I still don't know the proper answer to that one.  

Just before I went home in November of 2012, Grammy fell and broke her foot - and then her other foot.  She was in the hospital when I got there and we knew that she could not go back to her apartment.  I went with my aunt to look at the different skilled nursing units in the area that would help her get back on her feet - once they had healed.  We selected one and I went to visit her for lunch one day.  "Well how'd you get up here so fast?" was her question.  "What do you mean, Grammy?  Where do you think we are?"  "Grant City, of course."  Grant City is where Grammy grew up and where she and Grandad retired to.  It is about 2 hours north of Kansas City.  I tried to tell her we were in Kansas City, but she wouldn't believe me.  To her, we were definitely in Grant City.  

It has gotten progressively worse while I've been in UK.  Today she lives in a memory care center in Smithville, Missouri.  I don't speak to her often unfortunately - but when I do, she sounds like my Grammy but with stories that I just don't understand.  In her mind, she is in this center to help take care of her mother.  However, her mom passed away when I was in middle school.  She also asks when Grandad is going to pick her up.  Grandad passed away when I was in university.  

It's hard to listen to these questions and I have no clue how to answer them.  

Other than Alzheimer's and the inevitable fact that she is getting older, Grammy is pretty healthy.  She could continue to live like she is for a very long time which is hard to cope with.  It is a very stressful process for her daughters and very sad for her friends and family who have known her for so long and miss the woman we know and love.  

I am running this 10k for Grammy in hopes that the research and programs that the Alzheimer's Society leads and participates in will find treatments that will slow/cure/prevent Alzheimer's in the future.  Please join with me by supporting me on this run.  Thanks for reading.  

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