TeamAlzheimers.org - TIME TO RUN FOR MOM

Mom's Needlework

In less than 3 weeks, we will be running our half marathon for TeamAlzheimers. Once again the time has gone by so quickly. I find it so hard to believe we are ready to run again!

I will be visiting mom this weekend, the last time until after my run. I will tell her about my run and that I am doing this for her. Each mile, I will be thinking about mom…

The last time I was in Connecticut, my father gave me a bag full of mom’s needlework. Once mom retired she started sewing pillow cases, aprons and bureau scarves. It was very comforting for her. This bag was amazing. It was like a bottomless pit. I kept pulling out more and more pieces she had finished. Her disease was really taking hold at that time. She would complete a project and start another. I don’t think she knew what to do with the piece once she completed it.

I pulled out at least 10 completed pillow cases, 3 aprons and several bureau scarves. I also found several projects that she had not started. The most profound piece was a pillow case that she had completed about 50%. The hoop was still around where she was working. One day she put it down, never to return to it; Alzheimer’s won the battle. This particular craft said it all. I don’t think there is a bigger statement than that. If there ever was a visual to Alzheimer’s, this was it.

When I found it, I started crying because the sight was so overwhelming. It took my breath away; nothing more needed to be said. I thought about finishing that piece but decided not to and that it had to stay as is. I pull it out now and then and its impact is just as immense. It hurts me to look at it but I need to. I need to feel the impact of Alzheimer’s. I never want to accept this horrible disease. I live with it every day and until we find a cure, I don’t want to forget.

I plan on giving many of her completed pieces to her 3 granddaughters. Some day, I will also pass down her last project, as a reminder of what Alzheimer’s did to their Grammy, so they will never forget.

So when I run June 6, I will think of mom every single mile and picture her needlework and her unfinished piece. I will run and pray that other moms will not be left with their unfinished pieces. I will run and pray that their daughters will not have to discover their last grasp to reality and see it taken away. I will run and pray this all finally ends…