Bobby Eddleman is an only child, raised by parents who lived for him. “No matter what, I was the most important person in the room when it came to my mom’s attention growing up,” he says. His mother, Helen, worked alongside his father as a brick mason, laid bricks herself, and later cared for her in-laws through years of illness. She cooked every meal from scratch, made pies daily, and cakes every Friday. “She waited on both my dad and me, hand and foot,” Bobby recalls.
In fact, Bobby credits his mom’s hip surgery – when he was 22 years old – with teaching him and his father how to care for themselves. “Otherwise, I’d have been rotten for my wife,” he says with a laugh. “Although, I did go to my friends house for dinner every night until mama was feeling better.”
The Eddleman’s are a tight-knit family and have stayed in relatively close proximity to one another their entire lives. Bobby and his wife Missy live in the home where Helen and her five siblings grew up in Gold Hill, N.C. His remaining aunts, uncle and cousins all live within 30 miles of one another. Safe to say, their roots are deep in Rowan County.
Signs of Helen’s cognitive decline began around 2016 when she began having trouble with her financial record keeping. Her husband, Bobby’s father, had passed away in 2004, so Bobby was checking in regularly with his mom. By 2018, Helen’s forgetfulness became more frequent. “We were hiding it and compensating for it as long as we could,” Bobby admits. Her doctor put her on some medications, but they were causing her hallucinations, and she eventually asked Bobby to stop giving them to her. “It’s making me crazy,” she’d say. Bobby and Missy had moved her in with them by this point.
Today, Helen is getting ready to celebrate her 85th birthday in September. Alzheimer’s has taken much of her short-term memory and getting her to rest is a challenge. “My entire life, my mom has been constantly on the go,” shares Bobby. “She’s still like that and trying to get her to rest is a challenge. But we know that if she sleeps well, the next day will be better for all.”
As his mom’s care needs increased, Bobby and Missy got to a crossroads. Both work full-time and Bobby has several more years before he is fully vested in his pension and qualifies for paid health insurance upon retirement. Quitting his job to care for his mom full-time would put their financial future at risk. They desperately wanted to keep Helen at home with them but had to consider all the options. “Trinity Living Center was an absolute answer from God,” proclaims Bobby.
For the past four years, Helen has been going to the adult day service center five days a week, which allows Bobby and Missy to continue to work full-time knowing that Helen is being cared for and is safe. “Mama loves going to Trinity Living Center and believes she goes there to work,” says Bobby. “They keep her busy and she keeps those around her in line,” he laughs.
Trinity Living Center also offers an Alzheimer’s Association support group for caregivers and hosts many of the Association’s education programs. Bobby and Missy have taken every opportunity to join and attend so that they can have the tools they need to care for Helen. A long-time supporter of Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Rowan-Cabarrus, Trinity Living Center encouraged Bobby and Missy to participate this year and connect with others in the community that can understand what they are navigating with Helen’s health.
Bobby and Missy, married for 25 years, have poured their love and heart into caring for Helen. Caregiving has changed their life. “She took such great care of me, was good to Missy, and this is our opportunity to do the same for her,” said Bobby. “It’s hard seeing my mom become someone that I don’t often recognize, and we often ask ourselves, ‘why is this happening?’. It’s hard being tied down and unable to go as we please, but it’s the least I can do for her,” shares Bobby. “We take it one day at a time. This was a saying that I once despised people telling me, but now I understand.”
Bobby and Missy look forward to joining others at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis on October 4 for Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Rowan-Cabarrus. They walk for Helen – the woman who built a life of love, sacrifice, and strength. They walk for caregivers who feel alone and for the hope that one day, no one will have to ask “why?” again.
LIKE BOBBY, 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.
Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s®:
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.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s 2025 dates in North Carolina:
| Alamance County | 9/27/25 |
| Asheville | 9/27/25 |
| Charlotte | 10/18/25 |
| Fayetteville | 10/25/25 |
| Gaston/Cleveland/Lincoln | 10/11/25 |
| Guilford County | 10/25/25 |
| Henderson County | 9/27/25 |
| Iredell Co. & Lake Norman | 9/27/25 |
| Jacksonville | 9/27/25 |
| Moore County | 9/13/25 |
| Mount Airy | 9/20/25 |
| New Bern | 10/18/25 |
| Rowan-Cabarrus | 10/4/25 |
| Unifour | 10/25/25 |
| Triangle (Raleigh-Durham) | 10/4/25 |
| Wilmington | 11/1/25 |
| Winston-Salem | 11/16/25 |
Alzheimer's Association North Carolina Blog 