HISTORIC 2 DAYS FOR ALZHEIMER’S
May 16, 2012 | 
Author Two big days as the National Plan To Address Alzheimer’s Disease is released on 5/15/12 and as a clinical drug trial for Early-Onset Alzheimer’s is tested on an extended family in Colombia. We’re pushing forward with 2025 as a goal for prevention and treatment of AD.
ALZHEIMER’S IMPACT IN SPOKEN-WORD BALLET
This weekend I discovered a remarkable narrated ballet called “A Life Unhappening,” presented by the Alzheimer’s Association of St. Louis. This world premiere of Adam Stone’s work shows dancers representing three generations plus spoken narration. Together dancers and voices tell the story of how Alzheimer’s affects victim, family, and caregiver. The one-act show was warm, engaging, and surprising as Alzheimer’s makes its mark on the arts.
GET MOVING To Decrease Alzheimer’s Risk
Physical activity helps protect against cognitive decline as in Alzheimer’s, says “Regimens” in the NYT Science Section (5/1/12). In the NYT Review (4/29/12) Gretchen Reynolds finds “aerobic workouts. . .improve brain power.” Gentle aerobic workouts for seniors. But we need to get up and get moving.
NEW WORK ON ALZHEIMER’S CAREGIVING
Watch for a forthcoming new work on Alzheimer’s caregiving edited by Collin Tong, freelance journalist in Seattle, and co-edited by Susan Rava, author of SWIMMING SOLO. PROFILES IN CAREGIVING: JOURNEYS WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE collects helpful and moving contributions from a wide variety of Alzheimer’s caregivers. It will be a gift for future caregivers as they set out on their own journeys.
SEARCH FOR MEANING in Seattle
I am soon on my way to Seattle to present my new piece, “God & Alzheimer’s,” at the Seattle University Search for Meaning Book Festival on Sat., Feb. 4 at 1 p. m. (www.searchformeaning.us) This terrific trip gives me a chance to visit with new Alzheimer’s Association and Senior Services colleagues and to catch up with friends of SWIMMING SOLO (www.swimmingsolo.com). As an added bonus, I get to visit with 2 of my children and spouses, and to see grandchildren including a drummer in his band concert and one playing basketball.
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Tags: Alzheimer's, SEARCH FOR MEANING BOOK FESTIVAL, SWIMMING SOLO | 
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JOY
“Go out with joy” says the prophet Isaiah and the “trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (55:12) I used to long for big, exuberant joy this time of year–a universal celebration of God’s outreach.
Joy today has shrunk in size for me, but not in intensity. Joy is now as tiny as the word itself. Not the trees clapping, but one tree alone changing seasons before my house before my eyes, red and gold from the top down, lingering leaves until the first harsh winter wind catches those leaves and sends them swirling: a tiny morning joy out my window. Joy is manifest in the small magnificent daily detail around me that accompanies my going out and my coming in, morning and evening.
MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS
Daughters & their aging mothers have been on my mind. As I wrote about my own mother in SWIMMING SOLO, I remembered teaching 3 of my favorite French authors who wrote about their mothers at the end of life: Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, & Annie Ernaux. And Alzheimer’s likely figured in at least one decline, Annnie Ernaux’s mother. On a fall day, I think of these portraits of French mothers and daughters, and of my own mother who, like one of autumn’s final flowers, slowly faded from purple to mauve.
About Pat Robertson
Colleen Campbell says it so well: Alzheimer’s does not mean a person is “gone.” Read her article at:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/colleen-carroll-campbell/article_2e27636a-4f06-5188-a1d0-6d77b118109c.html
And read my memoir SWIMMING SOLO for a full family panorama of my husband’s parents and my parents, all of whom had Alzheimer’s. And their vivid, funny personalities often shone through reminding us of how important it is to have mindful, humane, and individualized caregiving.
WORLD ALZHEIMER’S DAY: 9/21/11
It’s WORLD ALZHEIMER’S DAY. Just back from an amazing, productive trip to Seattle where I joined End-Alzheimer’s efforts and read from SWIMMING SOLO. Thanks to so many welcoming Seattle-ites: Ann Hedreen; Esther Helfgott; Janelle Taylor; Keri Pollock and Bob Leroy of the Alzheimer’s Association of Western and Central Washington State; Karen Allman at Elliott Bay Book Co.; the Skyline at First Hill; George Treusch; my children and grandchildren; and many more. We generated lots of ideas to aid and support caregivers and those with AD. Much work for us ahead.
SWIMMING SOLO at the Buccaneer Bash
SWIMMING SOLO at the Lake Shore Parrotheads Buccaneer Bash in Ludington, MI:
After a warm homecoming for SWIMMING SOLO sponsored by the Pentwater Township Library, luck took me to the Buccaneer Bash in Ludington, MI. I had a SWIMMING SOLO booth. I loved pirate costumes; brats and burgers; kids with eye patches and bandannas; great singer followed by full band playing “Margaritaville” and more. And all this was to benefit the Western Michigan Alzheimer’s Association.