Usually, I start my day with yoga, and then walk later in the day or evening.
Today I walked early, in the Alzheimer’s Association 3 mile Memory Walk.
By the time I got home, in time for lunch, I already had nine of my ten thousand steps for the day.
It was a fun morning.
I went with Glenda Dyson. Her mother and mine are dorm mates in the Alzheimer’s unit at Carillon Assisted Living.
Glenda is also a customer of ours. She advertises her store, Just the Thing, in Coffee News. Just the Thing carries educational games and toys for children — and for their teachers and parents.
I first met Glenda when I was technology facilitator at Rockwell Elementary School. She taught kindergarten.
Interestingly enough, another woman in our little group of Carillon walkers was also a former kindergarten teacher. She taught 32 years and said she would have taught a few more years but retired so that she could spend more time caring for her mother.
Kindergarten teachers have the extreme patience and kindness that make them particularly good at taking care of mothers with Alzheimer’s.
In some ways, a person with Alzheimer’s is not unlike a small child.
Besides raising money for The Alzheimer’s Association, in order to find better treatments and hopefully a cure for Alzheimer’s, the value in a walk like this was the sheer emotional support it offers those going through this.
At least that was helpful for me.
A three mile walk gives you a little time to compare notes.
For example, I found that I’m not the only one who knows what it’s like to visit the ER three times in four days (and four times in two weeks) because a mother fell and hit her head.
This happens to a lot of people.
I will say that the pace was a little brisk for me. I thought I walked pretty fast, but I don’t. These ladies walked at a clip that had me huffing and puffing.
In the Alzheimer’s unit, women dramatically outnumber the men — presumably because they live longer. Maybe they live longer because they walk faster!