HUMANITY HIKER

Cindy knows that I am sharing her story on my blog and will be writing a book that shares her story as well.  That begs the question of how she feels about that.  Here is Cindy’s perspective about her early onset Alzheimer’s.

As it became increasingly apparent that Cindy had mental health issues she accepted that people in this small town would know.  We never had a phase of tap dancing around the issue with folks; we came right out and told them.  Nothing changed once those mental health issues had the official label of Alzheimer’s.

Living in a loving community we assume that people have our best interests at heart.  If anything, Cindy is glad that most people in town know.  There is just two things that depress her.  One is people being concerned about her affliction in her presence.  She knows there is something wrong; though well-intentioned being absorbed with concern just reinforces that point.  The other thing that bothers her is people ignoring her because of her affliction.

The same general principles apply to sharing her story in cyberspace.  We both feel she is doing something inspirational with her life, rather than allowing life to now pass her by.  She feels that by sharing her story perhaps others can be inspired and even helped as they deal with Alzheimer’s as an affliction or as a caregiver.

I won’t be just sharing Cindy’s story.  After all, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with our daughter Charissa is an adventure worthy of its own stories.  Stay tuned.