Last
year the Alzheimer’s Association launched “Walk Everywhere.” We were excited to
hold this year’s Sedalia Walk to End Alzheimer’s in person. The goal was for
participants to feel safe and enjoy the excitement of being part of a community
event.
This
was my twenty-fourth walk, and I’ve seen just about everything that could
happen, happen. One year we discovered within days of the event, that we didn’t
have the Highway Gardens secured. After nearly having a panic attack, I felt so
fortunate that some unlucky couple called off their wedding.
We’ve
walked on mostly glorious sunshiny days, but we’ve also walked on cold
September mornings, in sweltering weather, and during rain showers. Nothing
compared to the deluge we faced in 2018. We slogged through the mud during
setup, through the opening ceremony, and throughout the walk. It never once let
up, and I was soaked from head to toe. In 2019, we changed the venue to
Centennial Park with a walking trail and a large shelter.
After the
2020 virtual walk, we moved forward with plans for an in-person walk. An
important part of any walk is logistics. I met Laura, our Alzheimer’s
Association Walk Manager, at the park and we finalized the logistics at the big
shelter. That afternoon we had the figurative rug swept out from under our feet.
Laura received an email that said “sorry for the miscommunication” but Shelter
1 has been rented to someone else. Say
what?
After
one-sided negotiation, we were offered Shelters 3 & 4 for our event. I
looked the area over and told Laura we could make it work. We knew the walk
would be smaller than in the past. We had another logistics meeting at the new
location and strategized a Plan B.
On walk
day, I arrived at the Park around eleven o’clock a man was sitting in Shelter 3.
“That man said he rented the shelter a year ago,” WyAnn told me. After looking
around, we discovered Shelter 5 was reserved for us. Plan C was on the fly, but
worked out nicely. We had more room between the shelters, and a lot of shade!
Musical shelters worked out to our advantage.
The wind
played havoc with the pinwheel flowers, signs would not stay upright, and I
found one of my books blown onto the grass. The wind was both a curse and a
blessing. The day did not seem nearly as hot as the thermometer said it was.
As soon
as a team arrived, they would be encouraged to walk. I had asked Jim’s Team to
be ready to walk at 1:30. After our team photo, sixteen of us hit the trail
right on schedule. If my mother had been able to make it, we would have had a five-generation
photo. My great-grandson Jackson was decked out in his “Walk to End
Alzheimer’s” baby T-shirt. On the back, it said “Grandpa Jim’s Team.” The $555
online donations made him a “Champion.” As of walk day, Jim’s Team had raised
the most funds, but we were still short of our team goal.
Although
the Sedalia Walk had four Grand Champions ($1000 or more) and our tiny
Champion, we fell thousands of dollars short of our walk goal. Hopefully,
onsite donations and continuing online donations will eventually get us there,
but we obviously have miles to go!
We have
until the end of the year to meet our goal, Sedalia. I’m going to keep on
fundraising and I hope you will too. If you haven’t had a chance to donate, you
can make an online donation at alz.org/sedaliawalk.
Those
who have never been to a walk may not realize how uplifting and heart
fulfilling it is to gather for a common purpose. We share the hope and
confidence that we will someday have a survivor lift the white flower and hold
it high.
When we
walk, we walk for loved ones who have passed away from Alzheimer’s. We walk for
those living with Alzheimer’s and their care partners. We walk for those who
will develop dementia. Most of all we walk so that our children may know a
world without Alzheimer’s.
Copyright
© September 2021 by L.S. Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
#ENDALZ
No comments:
Post a Comment