About 18 years ago, Hickory resident, Beth Schlosser, made the decision to seek out her birth mother. “You know it was a pretty unique situation,” shares Beth. “On ‘Oprah,’ where there are great success stories; then you see on ‘Jerry Springer,’ there’s not so great connection stories.” Beth, whose twins were infants at the time, adds that it took her a long time to muster up the courage to reach out to her birth mother Lorraine (aka Laurie) since she wasn’t sure ‘what the story was.’ In other words, she wondered if Laurie had shared with her spouse and/or their children that Laurie had a baby from a previous relationship and had been given them up for adoption. So in a more Oprah-fashion ending, Beth did connect with Laurie. In fact, Laurie soon moved to Hickory, retired and lived with Beth’s family for about five years. Beth explains that Laurie knew she missed out on a great deal of Beth’s life. Now she had the opportunity to get to know Beth and her family. Laurie also wanted to meet Beth’s adoptive parents and thank them for raising Beth. Luckily she was able to meet prior to their passing.
Laurie became fondly known as “Mémère” to her grandchildren, Beth’s children. And about five years ago, toward the end of Laurie’s stay with Beth’s family, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Beth shares that one of the ways she discovered there was something ‘not quite right’ with Laurie was when she would pick up Beth’s kids from school. “They were in elementary school,” stated Beth. “Some days she would make it home [with them] without issue, and others she would end up in Burke or Lincoln counties. She’d get turned around, and my kids would call me and say, ‘Mémère’s lost.’” By phone, Beth would have to determine exactly where they were, and helps her navigate the way home. Beth says that initially she thought maybe it was because Laurie was unfamiliar with the area and that it was easy to become distracted and get turned around. “But as it continued to happen, we got really concerned,” asserts Beth.
“We talked to her primary care doctor about it, and he referred us to a neurologist who diagnosed her condition.” Beth added that the neurologist explained to her those newer memories that Laurie had would be the first be the first ones she would not only lose but also be the hardest to retain. He added that he felt it would be helpful [for Laurie] if she reconsidered moving back to where she had lived most of her life (Massachusetts) to try to retain as much of her memory for as long as possible. Laurie was placed on a waiting list for an independent living community (subsidized by the State of Massachusetts) for about a year until a space opened up for her.
Prior to her diagnosis, Beth shares that Laurie had such a zest for life. “She always had lots of questions, wanted to know everything about you, and what’s going on with you, and how things are going,” comments Beth. “So now to see her as the disease has progressed is really heartbreaking. She has now progressed to about stage five,” adds Beth. “It’s fairly significant and she has quite a bit of aphasia now. She does still know that she’s my birth mother.”
Laurie worked as a waitress for many years and also did some childcare in her home for a while. Since her husband was in the army, their family traveled all over the U.S. and Germany. Waiting tables and childcare were two professions she could manage no matter where they were located. After their children were grown and left home, Laurie went to work as a machine operator/assembler for Kidde-Fenwell. a fire extinguisher company and stayed their until retirement.
Beth is the oldest of Laurie’s five children – siblings, Stephen, Rob, Curtis and April Bodwell — with Beth being the only child from Laurie’s previous relationship. In December 2022, Beth’s half brother Stephen retired from the military and talked about moving to Florida. Beth’s family convinced him to move to North Carolina instead. Now that Laurie was no longer driving and with two of her five children living so near each other, she had a strong desire to be closer to them “Stephen’s her financial power of attorney, and I’m her health care power of attorney,” adds Beth. Beth’s other half siblings live in Tennessee and Massachusetts. While Laurie was back in Massachusetts, the two nearby siblings split up care responsibilities like care for her senior living community apartment and taking her to the doctor and grocery shopping. Beth shares that Laurie was mostly confined to her apartment during the pandemic and believes that isolation exacerbated the progression of her Alzheimer’s. Laurie also has stage five chronic kidney disease and the doctors do not know if Alzheimer’s disease is making the kidney disease worse or vice versa.
“When she came down this past Christmas, the first thing she said when she saw Stephen and me was ‘I want to stay here with you – do I have to go back?’” Beth and Steve tried to take care of their mother in their homes for a month. Sadly, Laurie had become completely incontinent, struggled more with her words and could not remember Beth’s name. Stephen and Beth realized the best decision for everyone was for their mother to be moved to an environment that is best equipped to keep her comfortable and safe. They found that environment at Brookdale of Hickory Northeast.
Beth believes her professional experience in home health and senior living has helped her prepare for her mother’s journey, but the Alzheimer’s Association has also provided a wealth of information and resources to Beth in managing Laurie’s care. She was constantly picking at her ostomy (common practice for those living with Alzheimer’s disease), thus making its care challenging. By calling the Alzheimer’s Association’s Helpline (800-272-3900), Beth was able to gather many good ideas, one of which was a fidget blanket, and that has worked really well in deterring Laurie’s focus on what’s on her body.
Beth attributes her involvement with Walk to End Alzheimer’s as the pathway to being knowledgeable about the resources the Alzheimer’s Association has to offer. “This is my first year on the Unifour Walk Committee,” shares Beth who currently works for Carolina Caring. “But I’ve been involved with the area Walk for about ten years.” Beth’s professional history with the Catawba County Home Health and Brookdale Senior Living, afforded her opportunities to participate at Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Unifour as an exhibitor and walk team participant.
“Being involved with the Walk, I have access to many great resources,” adds Beth. Their family’s Walk Team, Mémère’s Memory Keepers, that Beth captains, includes her two of her brothers (Stephen and Curtis), her three children (Ashley, Alex and Amelia), son-in-law (Jonathan), grandchildren (Hudson and Evvie) and a few family friends.
Beth’s favorite part of Walk Day are the personal experiences with Alzheimer’s and dementia that are shared. Sometimes it’s that they’re walking in honor of someone or in memory of someone or how it’s impacted their life at that. Beth shares, “To me it’s so meaningful because it just cements the fact that we’re not in this alone.”
The Association’s work in finding a cure one day is the most important to Beth. She believes it is critical to focus dollars and efforts towards developing treatments that either stop the disease altogether, slow down its progression, or even make it such that those individuals living with it can continue to enjoy their lives.
And for Beth, the motivation goes one step further. Knowing that genetics can play a factor in developing Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, Beth and her family also walk for Laurie’s own lineage which includes 5 children, 15 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. So on October 28 at LP Frans Stadium in Hickory, Beth and her extended family and friends will walk for Laurie and for themselves.
LIKE BETH, WE ALL HAVE A REASON TO FIGHT FOR A WORLD WITHOUT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. Join your local Walk to End Alzheimer’s today as an individual, team, or sponsor.
The Alzheimer’s Association hosts 17 walks across North Carolina. The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Since 1989, the Alzheimer’s Association® mobilized millions of Americans in the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®; now the Alzheimer’s Association is continuing to lead the way with Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Together, we can end Alzheimer’s.
| Alamance County | 9/30/2023 |
| Asheville | 10/14/2023 |
| Charlotte | 10/21/2023 |
| Fayetteville | 10/28/2023 |
| Gaston/Cleveland/Lincoln | 10/14/2023 |
| Guilford County | 10/7/2023 |
| Henderson County | 9/30/2023 |
| Iredell County | 9/23/2023 |
| Jacksonville | 10/14/2023 |
| Moore County | 9/30/2023 |
| Mount Airy | 9/9/2023 |
| New Bern | 10/21/2023 |
| Rowan-Cabarrus | 10/28/2023 |
| Unifour (formerly Hickory) | 10/28/2023 |
| Triangle (Raleigh-Durham) | 10/7/2023 |
| Wilmington | 11/4/2023 |
| Winston-Salem | 11/4/2023 |
Alzheimer's Association North Carolina Blog 