Sunday morning I took my usual seat
for early church services. A woman came in and sat at the end of the same row.
When the pastor gave us an opportunity to greet each other, I introduced myself
to her, and she told me her name.
I recognized Laura's name as one I had
seen on the Sedalia walk site. “Are you involved with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s?”
I asked.
“Yes, I am!” she said.
We had a brief discussion about walk
committee meetings, and then it was time for services to resume. The
sermon was based on Romans 10:15 (NLT) “...How beautiful are the feet of messengers
who bring good news!”
I
know that we may not see physical beauty when we look at our calloused feet, maybe marred with hammertoes, blisters, corns,
or bunions. What we can imagine is the power of
these “beautiful” feet to bring about change.
Each year we have about 400 pairs
of beautiful feet spreading the not-so-good news about Alzheimer’s disease.
Many of the participants in the Sedalia walk have a loved one living with
Alzheimer’s. Others, like Jim’s Team, walk to honor someone lost to the
disease. Many members of Jim’s Team walk to honor other loved ones who have, or
had, Alzheimer’s.
All these beautiful feet are boots
on the ground in the battle to turn Alzheimer’s into a national priority. The walkers’
beautiful feet raise awareness and funds to help families coping with Alzheimer’s
find resources to help them throughout the difficult journey.
At the same time, the Walk to End
Alzheimer’s helps the Alzheimer’s Association fund research grants that explore
new avenues toward finding a cure. New approaches, coupled with prior research,
will hopefully build the momentum to find what has thus far been an elusive
cure.
Alzheimer’s volunteers are a
special breed of focused individuals. It’s kind of scary to me to realize how
different my life would be if I had not taken that first step to become
involved with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Because of my volunteer work, I’ve gained
dozens of amazing friends.
Perhaps it was merely a coincidence
that Laura sat close to me Sunday morning. Or maybe, it was divine intervention
to bring together two warriors to fight the Alzheimer’s enemy.
As we left church on that beautiful
day, we paused to talk.
“There’s a woman on another team in
my line dancing class. You should meet her too,” I said. I hadn’t realized who she
was until our instructor Ruth had encouraged the class to participate in the
Walk to End Alzheimer’s. She told me she was already walking. In fact, I had
just announced her team, Poppy’s Posse, on the radio as the current top
fund-raising team.
“I’d like to go to line dancing,”
she said.
“You should join us. We have a lot
of fun! Our instructor Ruth is a joy to be around.”
While we talked, people from the early
services were leaving, and others were streaming in for the next services.
I told Laura the days and time of
our three line dancing classes, and while we were talking, Ruth joined us.
“I heard some women were talking
about line dancing.” Ruth explained that the young man greeting people at the
door had gone to the bookstore where she was volunteering to let her know some
women were talking about line dancing. Ruth invited Laura to join us for line
dancing exercise class.
Sunday was a day of connections
with a dear friend and a new friend, both with beautiful feet to spread the
good news that we are on the MOVE to End Alzheimer’s.
Copyright © July 2017 by L.S.
Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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