my life in words
September is WORLD ALZHEIMER'S MONTH. Today, September 21,2012, is "ALZHEIMER'S ACTION DAY!"
Purple is the color of awareness for Alzheimer's Disease. So, in HONOR of my mother's life, not her death, memory or the disease, I'm wearing purple today.
"I'm not Celebrating the disease of Alzheimer's, I just don't want the awareness of the disease to go away until we find a cure. Whether it's for money, knowledge, man-power, facilities, education, or prayers for a miracle, I don't want Alzheimer's to ever be forgotten until it no longer exists.
This disease is based on "forgetting." It robs you of your memories, prevents you from making any new memories, and steals away who you are. I just don't want "forgetting" to be a part of cure."
I don't want people to know her only as "Tonya's mom that died from the devastation of Alzheimer's." She was so much more than that. So on "Alzheimer's Action Day," in "World Alzheimer's Month," this is a very small portion of what I would like people to know about Wilma Walker.
Wilma Walker's life was Love. She was a woman that never said never. She always knew how to make lemon aid out of any lemon that was handed her. What her childhood may have lacked in reality, she more than made up for in her wonderful, creative, imagination. She could build an entire world around a single thought. Her life was a non-stop adventure. She made everything fun and exciting. It didn't matter if you were cleaning your room, working in the garden, taking a walk, or going to the store, she made EVERYTHING fun and an adventure. She took me places in my mind I never would have visited if it weren't for her taking me there.
Nothing ever stopped her if she had her mind set on something. She was a prize fighter. She taught herself to be a business woman that I truly respected. She ran three businesses, a home, and a family with one hand tied behind her back.
She was funny. We told her she was like a goose that woke up in a different world every day. Not for any negative reasons, but because she would never let the strains of yesterday's life cause her to miss the opportunity for today's joy. Lucy Ricardo had nothing on her. In fact we often told her she was just like Lucy. I can remember the story of her first job interview at a bank. She had no experience, but desperately needed the job. She didn't know how to type and knew she was going to have to take a typing test, so she bandaged up her finger and told them she couldn't take the test that day. Well, she got the job anyway, and then went home and taught herself how to type. Doesn't that sound like a "Lucy" episode?
She was a wonderful actress on our family's music show. You couldn't help but be drawn to the dramatic ways she would tell a story. She also was a writer that needed to write, but unfortunately didn't have the time until it was too late.
Wilma Walker was a tremendous teacher of life, love, laughter, and so much more. Oh yeah, and I'm privileged enough to be able to call her mom." ~tf
Purple is the color of awareness for Alzheimer's Disease. So, in HONOR of my mother's life, not her death, memory or the disease, I'm wearing purple today.
"I'm not Celebrating the disease of Alzheimer's, I just don't want the awareness of the disease to go away until we find a cure. Whether it's for money, knowledge, man-power, facilities, education, or prayers for a miracle, I don't want Alzheimer's to ever be forgotten until it no longer exists.
This disease is based on "forgetting." It robs you of your memories, prevents you from making any new memories, and steals away who you are. I just don't want "forgetting" to be a part of cure."
I don't want people to know her only as "Tonya's mom that died from the devastation of Alzheimer's." She was so much more than that. So on "Alzheimer's Action Day," in "World Alzheimer's Month," this is a very small portion of what I would like people to know about Wilma Walker.
Wilma Walker's life was Love. She was a woman that never said never. She always knew how to make lemon aid out of any lemon that was handed her. What her childhood may have lacked in reality, she more than made up for in her wonderful, creative, imagination. She could build an entire world around a single thought. Her life was a non-stop adventure. She made everything fun and exciting. It didn't matter if you were cleaning your room, working in the garden, taking a walk, or going to the store, she made EVERYTHING fun and an adventure. She took me places in my mind I never would have visited if it weren't for her taking me there.
Nothing ever stopped her if she had her mind set on something. She was a prize fighter. She taught herself to be a business woman that I truly respected. She ran three businesses, a home, and a family with one hand tied behind her back.
She was funny. We told her she was like a goose that woke up in a different world every day. Not for any negative reasons, but because she would never let the strains of yesterday's life cause her to miss the opportunity for today's joy. Lucy Ricardo had nothing on her. In fact we often told her she was just like Lucy. I can remember the story of her first job interview at a bank. She had no experience, but desperately needed the job. She didn't know how to type and knew she was going to have to take a typing test, so she bandaged up her finger and told them she couldn't take the test that day. Well, she got the job anyway, and then went home and taught herself how to type. Doesn't that sound like a "Lucy" episode?
She was a wonderful actress on our family's music show. You couldn't help but be drawn to the dramatic ways she would tell a story. She also was a writer that needed to write, but unfortunately didn't have the time until it was too late.
Wilma Walker was a tremendous teacher of life, love, laughter, and so much more. Oh yeah, and I'm privileged enough to be able to call her mom." ~tf
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