Julie Mitchell, Ella Barrone, Vanessa Corsie and Claire Forde are running the Great South Run in October in memory of Dave, Julie's Dad, and for Ella's Grampy, Stanley (Stan the Man) who is living with Dementia.

Forget me not appeal poem for Dave written by Julie

Dad, I won’t forget that you were Scottish, that you sought a more prosperous life in London and that you had a successful banking career.

I won’t forget you were married to mum for over 50 years, that Claire and I had a great childhood with lots of nice holidays and the security to do well in our education.

I won’t forget how active you were, from your antics on the ski slopes to teaching us to sail and your passion for helping others achieve their Duke of Edinburgh award as an instructor.

I won’t forget you walking me down the aisle at my wedding, and the first time you held your grandchildren.

I won’t forget your health issues in later life, the trauma of having a triple heart bypass, the constant issues you had in managing your diabetes, having Parkinson’s that caused a slight tremor, a stroke that impacted your walk and finally getting the diagnosis for lewy body dementia.

I won’t forget how we had to take your car away from you for safety reasons, that we had to sneak a tracker into your pocket when you insisted on going out, how you’d get lost in shopping centres and how you’d argue that there was nothing wrong with you.

I won’t forget making the impossible decision to put you into care, the anguish in mums face as we left you at the nursing home, the concern about financing and the realisation of how poor adult social care was.

I won’t forget visiting you in hospital as an infection hadn’t been managed in the nursing home, how the doctors told us to prepare for end of life and how you rallied to prove them wrong enabling us to spend one last Christmas together.

I won’t forget spending the final hours of your life with you, hearing your final breaths and saying goodbye one last time.

Dad, I won’t forget you.

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