YOU can help us reach our Walk to End Alzheimer’s fundraising goal and receive an exclusive mask! As we close out the year, let’s show everyone we are ALZ in this TOGETHER! Walkers who raise or donate an additional $35 for Walk to End Alzheimer’s will earn an ALZ mask — or raise $50+ to […]
Walk to End Alzheimer’s® looked different this year, but our supporters have truly stepped up across the state to keep fighting back against Alzheimer’s and all other dementia. We are so proud of North Carolina, and we can’t thank you enough for your support. The Association is keeping up the momentum and continuing to raise […]
“I know everyone thinks that their mom is special, but mom was truly one of a kind,” very emotionally shares Diane Beecher of Wilmington, North Carolina when speaking of her mother, Eileen. “She was the sweetest, most selfless person you have ever met!” Diane grew up in Bethesda, Maryland with her twin sister, Debbie, as […]
Donia Schmiege remembers her mom as being “controlled and conservative… always staying in her lane.” She never wore ‘above-the-knee’ dresses or red lipstick. Donia laughs when she fails to find another word besides “bible thumper” to describe her kind and devoted mom, Mary. Her mom was always a leader in her community, teaching Sunday School […]
“Everyone who ever met him defined him as a gentleman, and that never changed,” shares Nancy Willett of New Bern, North Carolina. Hank, Nancy’s husband, had a presence about him that one just recognized. Horace Bunnie Fitchett, Jr. was known to all as ‘Hank’ or ‘PopPop’ by his eight grandchildren. Born in Urbana, Virginia in […]
Robeson County native Kesha Hunt has lost both her grandparents to Alzheimer’s disease. This immeasurable family loss might cause some to shut down or try to forget, but Kesha is a clear exception. Kesha uses her grief to inspire her own fight against Alzheimer’s, and bring her community on board with her. She is set […]
Even though his formal education did not extend beyond the fifth grade, Charlie Pruitt’s unwavering work ethic persevered to nearly the end of his life. He built pianos for Kohler & Campbell for over 45 years until they filed for bankruptcy in the 1980’s. “Daddy did not think twice about walking three miles in the […]
“After being together for 33 years, that was the first time I had ever seen my husband cry,” recalls Jeanette Martinez of Jacksonville, NC. William ‘Willie’ Martinez, 55, had just been diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2009. While this news understandably shook the Martinez family to its core, Jeanette knew she needed to be […]
‘Clarity – Capacity – Cure’ – is the motto that Charlotte resident Joyce Gottlieb has relied upon since her mother Bessie Ledbetter was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. “Mom’s behavior became out of character for her about ten years ago,” shares Joyce. “This disease can really sneak up on the individual living with it as well as […]
While she may not have worn the razor-sharp boomerang tiara, the deflective bracelets of victory or the golden lasso of truth, Sylvia Brown was ‘Wonder Woman’ in her own regard. Raising seven children of her own, and embracing the loving support roles of grandmother to 17 grandchildren and great-grandmother to 31 great grand-children, her position […]