Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation
Ξ December 8th, 2008 | → 3 Comments | ∇ Philanthropy |
When we at Worthy Fashion came up with our new campaign to allow our customers to choose their preferred charity, we agreed that it only made sense for each of us to choose a charity that was close to our own heart. Today, I’m going to talk about the charity I chose, which is meaningful to me because my grandfather passed away from Alzheimer’s a little over a year ago.
My poppop was one of the most happy-go-lucky people I’ve ever met. He was the type of man that was happiest when everyone around him was laughing. At his funeral, going through the pictures of his life it was difficult to find any photos in which he wasn’t smiling, making a face or turning anything he could get his hands on into an opportunity for some ad-lib prop comedy. He was goofy in the best way and that made him an unbelievably lovable grandfather because he was so comfortable slipping back into the role of his inner child when he was with his grandkids. I know that he passed away having brought as much joy into the world as any human being could ever muster. The memories of that man are the ones I’ve chosen to remember because the man that Alzheimer’s eventually turned him into was quite different from the one I grew up with.
The jokes about grandpa looking for the glasses on his head or grandma putting salt in the recipe instead of sugar are simple facts of old age and are best taken with a laugh and a smile, but Alzheimer’s is so much more devastating than mere forgetfulness. It takes your zest, your personality and your emotional connections along with your memories. We don’t really know how much this affects the patients themselves because as the disease progresses communication becomes increasingly difficult. No one can know if they’re depressed or angry except for the cues we read on the outside. All you can do is make sure they’re as comfortable as possible and hope they don’t realize too intensely what is happening to them.
What I do know, however, is what this disease does to the people that love that person. It’s a strange, somewhat surreal experience talking to someone with this disease because you’re always expecting them to pop out of their chair and yell “Gotcha, I was just fooling ya”. They never do, of course, but for some reason you still think it might happen every time. It’s incredibly difficult to look at a person you’ve known so long and process the fact that you are now a complete stranger to them. The twinkles of sudden memory that I saw on my poppop’s face from time to time that seemed to indicate some part of him still knew me were always bittersweet and faded away as suddenly as they had come on. It was difficult for my family to watch someone so unabashedly gregarious become quiet, reserved and confused. The emotional toll of watching his exuberance and vitality slowly float away from him until he sat alone most days staring out the window eventually led to a very cathartic experience at his funeral for my family. We were sad, of course, but in a strange way I got the sense that we all felt he had been freed from his prison. I could feel the sense of relief that somewhere the man we always knew and loved was smiling and laughing the way he was always meant to be. It was a happy death in its own way because we knew the disease couldn’t hold him back anymore.
That experience was very meaningful to my family and I and it’s why I think the work that the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research is so important. Led by Nobel Laureate, Dr. Paul Greengard, the center is confronting the myriad of problems facing Alzheimer’s patients today with groundbreaking research into therapies to slow and prevent the disease and are getting closer to finding a cure. Another reason that the Fisher Center is at the vanguard of Alzheimer’s Research is that 94 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to the lab. Directing only 6% of their donations towards administrative costs is an incredibly low number which demonstrates the admirable level of dedication they posses to eradicating this disease.
My poppop’s experience taught me just how valuable and critical our memories are to keeping us connected to our loved ones and I’m hopeful that the Fisher Center will soon achieve the breakthrough that will allow future generations to hold onto that connection as long as possible.
