A Walk With a Purpose

This year Vince and I have become involved with the 2020 Walk to End Alzheimer’s and are volunteering with the Marketing Committee.

It has been a strange year to be a volunteer. We can’t meet with others on the committee in person due to COVID-19. We can’t do all the marketing activities the organization has done in previous years like putting informational stickers on coffee cups and pizza boxes to garner interest in the 2020 Walk and in the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association.

So we have been doing a lot of virtual activities. We meet monthly over the phone and see each other on screen like a 2020 version of the Brady Bunch.

Our current strategy is to forge ahead with plans to hold the Columbus Walk to End Alzheimer’s at the Columbus Commons on Sunday, September 27^th.  There is also a virtual component to the walk, but we don’t yet know what that is going to look like.

Vince and I have also formed a team to walk – we are Team Forget Me Not. In honor of my mom. And in memory of all those who have succumbed to this disease.

Things change. And for all we know, the virtual walk will be all we can do because of coronavirus health concerns.

So we’ll take it day by day and week by week until it’s time to join together – either physically or virtually – to bring focus to Alzheimer’s. 

Research.

Programs.

Help.

I’ve read that Alzheimer’s affects one in four people. Certainly it has affected me and my family. My mother has been in a memory care unit for nearly four years, but has had the disease for over ten.

And while I would give anything to have my mother back the way she was pre-Alzheimer’s, I know that’s impossible.  

But what I can do is help raise awareness of the Alzheimer’s Association. And I can help raise funds for research to find a cure and to sponsor the programs the Alzheimer’s Association provides.

There are many worthwhile causes and many opportunities to give – so I don’t ask this lightly. But if you are in a position to help support our walk and cause, I would appreciate it more than you could ever know.

We would be honored to have you join our team, too, if you are willing and able.

Our link is: http://act.alz.org/goto/JaneandVinceCordova

And I thank you so very much!

We Got This!

There are many things I’m frustrated/sad/ grumpy about right now with the COVID-19 pandemic – but there are many things I’m happy/grateful/ tickled about, too.

First off, I’m grateful that I’m not sick. Nor is anyone I care about - to my knowledge, anyway. Like the meme that states, that moment when you’re worried about the elderly and then you realize you are the elderly. Haha – right?

Not so much. Egad. How and when did I join the “elderly” category?

Suddenly, social distancing becomes way more important, doesn’t it? I really don’t want to come out the loser in the “who gets the ventilator” coin toss because of my age. So listening to the experts is critical. (And something I would have done even if I didn’t have to take my advanced years into consideration.)

I’m annoyed about things, too. Like, for instance, it annoys me that I’m still worried about flippin’ toilet paper, for cryin’ out loud. (Clearly, since my last blog was also about the scarcity of the ol’ bath tissue!)

But every time we use up another roll, I get a little jittery. Over the past two weeks, we’ve gone to the store maybe three times and there hasn’t been any toilet paper on the shelves even once.

I can’t think of any other staple in our household that causes me such consternation, but I truly think it’s my “Girl Scout” mentality that comes into play here of always being prepared.

If our supplies get too low, we may have to resort to looking at Youtube videos for DIY bidet installations.

I kid. Sorta. It depends on the Charmin’ situation in the next several weeks.

On a serious note, I am truly sad that I can’t visit my mom at her memory care unit right now. She is pretty far advanced in her Alzheimer’s and probably wouldn’t know if I have or have not visited her, so I suspect that any visits would benefit me more than her.

But I am incredibly grateful for the staff at The Glen because they have called so we can say “I love you” to mom. They have shared photos on FB or via texts so we can see her. And they are taking such good care of our loved ones that I am not sure how I can possibly ever say “thank you” enough.

They are most certainly tired. They have to go through a health check process just to walk in the door to get to work. And the uncertainty they face about potentially contracting the virus from some unsuspecting coworker who doesn’t show symptoms has to weigh heavily on their minds and hearts. Because they could then unknowingly bring the virus home to their shelter-in-place families.

It is the same for all front-line healthcare workers and first responders. I cannot imagine having the strength to do what they do. But I’m awfully grateful that they do it to benefit me and all my fellow citizens. (I was going to say “My Fellow

Americans” – but that still sounds a little too Nixon-ish for my taste.)

So while I miss going out to dinner and seeing a movie or heading to the gym for some much needed cardio, or running to the store to pick up, well, anything besides paper products and hand sanitizer – I think this time is a good “reset” for us to realize what is important in life. And that, although there will be some heartache or tough economic times for many of us ahead, we will weather the storm as we demonstrate the resilient nature we have.

And if we don’t have a resilient nature, we’re darn sure going to have to dig up some resiliency. After all, our forbearers made it through war and famine and all sorts of epidemics that we, with all our modern medicine and technology, can’t even imagine.

They even made do without the Charmin’ mega-rolls – or bidets.

So we got this!