Second Post-Nana's Birthday-February 27, 2011

Hey Everyone,

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've been pretty busy preparing for Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen and Sylacauga Darlin' Devil Majorette Tryouts. Tryouts were yesterday and guess what? I made it! I am now a majorette! One reason why this is so important to me is because my Nana was a Sylacauga Majorette too. So was my aunt. AND my other grandmother. haha. So it was a pretty big deal when I made it in my opinion. I wanted to talk to my Nana about her experiences with being a majorette. But I can't. Alzheimer's took that priveledge away from me.

Today is my Nana's birthday. She had no idea that she turned 65 today.
My aunt had her birthday this week too.
My Nana didn't know her own daughters birthday.
We gave my Nana presents today. Someone had to direct her how to open a present. A PRESENT. Now I bet your'e thinking that is something you'll NEVER forget how to do.... believe me. I am too...
She didn't know how to open the card.. and once someone opened it for her and asked if she could read it, she replied "I know how. I'm not stupid." She couldn't read it. and We know she's not stupid. It's this stupid disease that's stupid. Now I'm not going to pretend that it doesnt bother me. Or make me mad. Or frustrated, because it does. It makes me want to cry. And to be honest,
sometimes it does.

Imagine this for me..
There you are, trying to write a letter to your best friend. Not knowing how to hold a pen or just simply write an A. You search your mind, just trying, reaching, searching for that memory of how to write an A. It's not coming to you. You give up.
Reading becomes worse than a kid with dyslexia trying to read a book.

I mentioned how it makes me frustrated and mad. Yeah. It does.
Believe me, I love my Nana. I love her soooo much. So, I guess I'm not really frustrated at her.. I know she doesn't forget on purpose. It's just hard to accept.. really hard.
This stupid, idiotic, life ruining disease. Well.  It ruined everything.

I used to remember when I first started competing in pageants how I used to think this one thought before every one. I used to pray. hard.
I used to think about how I wished I could win one pageant, just ONE, before my Nana forgot me. So that I could see her expression, and hear what she would say to me. To get that genuine hug. To know for sure that she was extremely proud of me.
Well, that didn't happen.
I was too late.
I tried my hardest, but it wasn't good enough..
I know she would be proud of me. I know that now. She would've been one of the first ones to give me the biggest hug and remind me of how proud she was.


 Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death.
It gets the lease amount of funding for research. Alzheimer’s is the only top 10 cause of death without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression. Now, hearing that, I STRONGLY believe that it should get more funding for a cure. I. WANT. MY. NANA. BACK. and that won't happen..

5.3 million people have Alzheimer's. One of these is my Nana.
$172 billion in annual costs.
6th leading cause of death.
10.9 million UNPAID caregivers. One of these is my Grandmother.
The National Institutes of Health spends over $6 billion a year on cancer research, over $4 billion on heart disease research and over $3 billion on HIV/AIDS research. But it spends only $480 million on Alzheimer research.
Now with the information given, I'm a firm believer that there should be more funding on research.
What do you think?

I would love to know. Remember, I'm always here to talk to. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability, and I've been told that I'm an excellent listener.

One website that everyone should check out for more information-
http://www.alz.org/
GO CHECK IT OUT! & sign up for their e-mails!

Thanks y'all-

Makenzie