Published on TheOdysseyOnline
This year is the second year in a row that I will be walking in the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Burlington, N.C. with my sorority, Sigma Kappa. The walk only lasts about twenty minutes, but the fundraising and preparation that goes into it amounts to hours. One of the main reasons I joined Sigma Kappa during my freshman year is because of one of their five philanthropies: gerontology with a focus on Alzheimer's disease. With Sigma Kappa, I have volunteered at several retirement homes, and we all raise money for the local walk each September.
This philanthropy hits home for me. Before I was old enough to truly understand the effects of Alzheimer's, my grandmother was diagnosed. My earliest memory of Gran is sitting by her bedside with my younger brother and drinking sweet tea, crushing small cylindrical ice cubes beneath my teeth. The only Christmas I remember spending with her, she was in a wheelchair. I watched as the disease slowly consumed her until my grandfather had no choice but to put her in a nursing home. He and his dog would visit her almost every day, holding fast to her dwindling memories.
When I was in seventh grade, amid the time of typical middle school insecurities, Gran passed away. When it happened, my mom said something that rang in my mind. She looked at my dad and said, "She was gone long before today." I immediately understood what she meant, the woman that died that day was not my grandmother. She had forgotten the times we crushed ice beneath our teeth, and she had forgotten who her family was. Alzheimer's disease had taken her away way before God did.
When I walk in 12 days, I will be walking holding a purple flower pinwheel in honor of Gran. Several of my friends will be holding purple flowers as well, and others hold orange flowers, indicating their support for those with the disease. We hope to someday find a cure for this awful disease and that there will be a white flower in the walk.
If you would like to make a donation to my walk to help me reach my personal goal of $100, click here, thank you.