When Lee Ann Luman of Hickory looks back on her childhood, she feels tremendously proud of her mother, Winifred Thurkill. Life wasn’t always easy, but her mother provided Lee Ann and her sister Becky with an idyllic childhood, instilling faith-based values and a strong work ethic to serve others that both sisters uphold today.
When Lee Ann was 12 and Becky was 9, their father tragically passed away from a heart attack. Winifred had just recently gone back to teaching and was working as a middle school special education teacher at the time. After her husband’s passing, she became solely responsible for raising her two daughters. Committed to putting them both through college, she worked three jobs to save enough money, all while staying active in her church, her community and her family’s lives. “She managed to do that without sacrificing our needs,” remembers Lee Ann. “It was really quite remarkable.” After college, both Lee Ann and Becky became teachers themselves.
Alzheimer’s entered their lives when their grandmother was diagnosed with the disease when Lee Ann was in high school. “My mother, sister and I all helped to take care of her,” said Lee Ann. “We saw how my mom handled being her caregiver and tried to model that ourselves. When my mom was diagnosed in 2009 at the age of 77, my sister and I had an idea of the grace and patience needed when caring for someone living with dementia.”
The sisters immediately jumped into “fix-it” mode even though they knew there was no cure. They sought all the information and treatments they could on Alzheimer’s and found the Alzheimer’s Association website to be invaluable.
Thankfully, Winifred was able to start taking medication upon her early stages diagnosis that helped slow the progression of her Alzheimer’s. Approximately six years after her initial diagnosis, Lee Ann and Becky began to realize that she could no longer live independently, and she moved into an assisted living home in town.
“My mom was such an integral part of our family – our lives, her grandchildren’s lives. She was always this gentle, calming spirit – our Nana,” remembers Lee Ann. “It was hard to drop her off at this new home that would help care for her. As a kindergarten teacher who is used to the emotions of that first day of school drop off, this felt a bit like that, only I wouldn’t be picking her up at the end of the day.”
It was at this point that Lee Ann started blogging about her Alzheimer’s journey with her mother. “It was a cathartic way to channel my emotions and allowed me to process each day,” said Lee Ann. “When I’d leave from visiting my mom, I’d sit in the car and write. I always captured a photo from the day to include as well.
“I remember one poignant day visiting my mom. I was sitting with her, and she looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know your name, but I know you’re mine.’ I am so thankful that my mom’s gentle and loving heart never changed through this journey,” shared Lee Ann.
In the year before Winifred passed in 2017, she moved from assisted living to memory care.
“I was with my mom, and she remarked that she really wanted to do something to help keep Alzheimer’s from affecting more generations,” said Lee Ann. “This was not a surprising remark coming from my mom, who was always looking for ways to serve. It was this conversation that led her to make the decision to donate her brain to science and researchers who are studying Alzheimer’s.”
On the day Winifred passed away, the family was gathered together. Moments after her passing, Lee Ann’s husband noticed something that he needed his wife to see – a kaleidoscope of yellow butterflies swarming around both Lee Ann and Becky’s cars parked right outside. In awe, they went back inside and raised the window blinds. Right at the window were more beautiful yellow butterflies. They took this to be a sign from Nana.
At Winifried’s celebration of life, what appeared right outside the church and stayed the entire time? A yellow butterfly.
Lee Ann continues to keep her eyes peeled for yellow butterflies and is always quick to say “Hello Nana” when she sees one. She retired from teaching two years ago and has found solace in joining the executive leadership team for Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Unifour. “Volunteerism was always important to my mom,” said Lee Ann. “She’d be proud to know that she’s still helping others through her personal story and the impact on science she is making by being part of the worldwide database for researchers studying Alzheimer’s.”
Lee Ann and her family have found great community with other Walk to End Alzheimer’s participants and are personally committed to raising funds to help find a cure. “My mother was so beloved, that people want to support this mission and are eager to contribute. My family would love to see my mom’s dream of seeing an end to Alzheimer’s come true.”
LIKE LEE ANN, 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 | 9/28/2024 |
| Asheville | TBD |
| Charlotte | 10/19/2024 |
| Fayetteville | 10/26/2024 |
| Gaston/Cleveland/Lincoln | 10/5/2024 |
| Guilford County | 10/5/2024 |
| Henderson County | 9/21/2024 |
| Iredell Co. & Lake Norman | 9/21/2024 |
| Jacksonville | 9/28/2024 |
| Moore County | 9/14/2024 |
| Mount Airy | 9/14/2024 |
| New Bern | 10/19/2024 |
| Rowan-Cabarrus | 9/21/2024 |
| Unifour | 10/26/2024 |
| Triangle (Raleigh-Durham) | 10/5/2024 |
| Wilmington | 11/2/2024 |
| Winston-Salem | 11/2/2024 |
Alzheimer's Association North Carolina Blog 