Being a volunteer has changed the trajectory of my life. At first, volunteering for the Alzheimer’s Association was a way of making a positive out of a negative. Volunteering helped to offset the helplessness of losing Jim one memory, one skill at a time.
Jim and I were the only two people from Sedalia in the 1998 Memory Walk, and I volunteered to chair the walk the next year. I didn’t realize how many miles and years would follow. I was chair for five years and have served on the planning committee for more than twenty years.
For nineteen consecutive years, I made the journey to the Alzheimer’s Forum in Washington DC. At the Forum, we learned about Alzheimer’s research, attended plenary programs, soaked up information about research funding and legislative issues. On Hill day, a thousand Alzheimer’s Ambassadors armed with facts, figures, and personal stories wore purple sashes and visited their senators and representatives.
The first year I went to Washington, DC, NIH research funding was about $400 million. Because of the Ambassador program, funding for Alzheimer’s disease research at the National Institutes of Health has reached $3.7 billion annually.
The experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met have enriched my life. The first year I attended the Forum, I met kindred souls: Jane Adams, Kathy Siggins, and Sarah Harris. I met and became friends with Alzheimer’s Association staff members, other advocates, celebrities, senators and representatives, and persons with dementia.
The year I was to make my 20th annual visit to Washington DC, Covid hit and the meeting was cancelled at the last minute because of restrictions. Because of health concerns, I resigned as an ambassador last year. I most likely will never go to the Forum again.
In 2008, I began to blog at earlyonset.blogspot.com. Writing was an outlet for my emotions, and I was able to help others by sharing my experiences as a caregiver. Annually, I print a book of my blog posts and use them as part of my Mozark Press corporate sponsorship at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
Each year after the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, I feel exhilarated, refreshed, and hopeful that a cure is imminent. The white flower at our walk symbolizes the first person to be cured of Alzheimer’s disease.
Like most Alzheimer’s volunteers, I have a connection to the disease and saw the Alzheimer’s Association in action. Their local Chapter helped me when I was at my most vulnerable.
My observation is that good volunteers have passion for the cause, take action and use their particular skill set to do their share of the work, and are willing to be part of a team effort. A volunteer needs a positive attitude to get past any disappointments.
Losing Jim to dementia was the greatest tragedy in my life, but I feel so blessed that we shared good times, hard times, love, laughter, and tears. He not only changed my life, he changed me.
Jim was the reason we went to the first Memory Walk. “We need to go to that walk,” he said, “because I’m having trouble with my memory.” That walk was the beginning of a new era in my life when I stepped out of my comfort zone and became a volunteer. I believe that I receive as much from being a volunteer as I give.
Photo credit Kevin Walker Photography, 2023 Sedalia Walk to End Alzheimer's
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© Dec 2023 by L.S. Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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