Over the last few weeks, two of my very close friends have received news that their parents have some form of Alzheimer’s/Dementia. They were there during my dad’s journey, and I am hoping to be able to help them as they navigate this terrible disease.

One is going through it with her dad and the other it’s the mom. It just goes to show Alzheimer’s does not discriminate, although statistically, a higher percentage of women have it. (According to the Alzheimer’s Association, almost two-thirds of those affected are women)

I hope they can find some light in this darkness; it isn’t easy.

Like any terminal disease, we want to know why and wonder how life can be so unfair. I have often said that telling my dad’s stories when he was ornery or sharing his many words of wisdom helps keep him alive and brings me a smile. It is in the sharing that we find joy.

At least that’s what I think, your loved one may forget who you are or even who they are, but in the remembering and the telling, they aren’t forgotten.

I wish I could tell my friends that there is a cure and to hang on that treatment is coming, but the hard truth is there is no such cure.

I can’t paint a happy ending for them, but I can remind them that there is something to laugh about, even on the darkest day. I am hopeful that by the time my children are at the age where this disease likes to show its face, there will be a cure, but until then, we will live life.

Do all the things and make all the memories, take the pictures, and try not to think that Alzheimer’s is lurking around the corner.