Alzheimer’s Disease started to steal my mum about 12 years ago. It was a sneaky disease at first, just making mum repeat the same story over and over again - which would sometimes make me laugh and sometimes drive me mad! Then the disease started being a bit more obvious - making mum forget things that she’d done for so long: how to make a sandwich, how to knit, how to drive, how to walk, how to read, how to write, how to hold a cup of coffee, how to write her name, how to feed herself...in fact how to do anything for herself.

The disease then got really evil and made her forget the really important things: like the fact she was married to a wonderful husband; the fact she has 6 gorgeous grandchildren; the fact she’d had four children; the fact she’d given us the most fun-filled of childhoods…she had no recollection of any of the wonderful memories she'd shared with so many people. Mum would look visibly shocked and terrified when I would say ‘Hey mum, it’s Emma, one of your twins’ - it was as if she desperately wanted to remember but the disease had taken every memory from her, along with every talent and almost every part of my mum.

There were a couple of things the disease couldn’t steal though...it couldn’t steal the fact that mum had a heart of gold which was full of love, and that when I squeezed my mum’s hand (which I did virtually every day for the last  4 years of mum’s life) she would squeeze it back and her eyes would sparkle a little bit. I always thought that although she couldn’t remember who I was, and all the magical memories we’d experienced together, she could remember the feeling of love that we had for each other. It also couldn’t steal mum’s love of singing (admittedly, not great singing, but still the most wonderful, happy sound that I miss so very much) and even towards the end of mum’s life she would try and sing along to some of her favourite songs. 

So, as I complete the Trek26 Stonehenge, I will be thinking of my amazing mum every step of the way and my head and heart will be filled with her songs. 

Thank you for reading this. If you are able to sponsor me to raise money to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s, I would be hugely grateful 💙💙💙

Alzheimer’s Society is transforming the landscape of dementia forever.Until the day we find a cure, we will create a society where those affected by dementia are supported and accepted, able to live in their community without fear or prejudice.