The Memory You Save May Be Your Own
When I was a very young boy, one of my most vivid memories was getting a polio vaccination. My mother took me to our local public health clinic on Hancock Street in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was a beautiful summer’s day,
with hardly a cloud in the sky. The street was lined with Elm trees providing cool shade to the hundreds of mothers and children waiting in a serpentine line that seemed to go on forever. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity to
a small boy we made our way inside the clinic and started down a long narrow hallway.
I remember peeking around the large woman in front of me to see two adults in white coats at the end of the hallway holding each child tightly by the arm and then I heard it. As the adults took the boy five people ahead of me, one of
the adults in a white coat stuck a needle in the boy’s right arm. He let out a blood curdling scream. I covered my ears and pulled away from my mother but there was no escape. I got my polio vaccine just like all the other children and
cried all the way home.
Why am I telling you this story? Polio was a public health threat until a vaccination was discovered. It took research and money to create the vaccination and thousands of caregivers to support patients stricken by the disease. Our nation mobilized a massive effort to fund the vaccination and to see that every child in America received it. As a result Polio has been eradicated in this country and throughout most of the world.Now, as a baby boomer, I find myself in the middle of another public health crisis, Alzheimer’s disease. It will rob us of our memories, our dignity, our self awareness, recognition of our loved ones and friends and our own identity.
According to recent projections, one in eight baby boomers will get Alzheimer’s disease after they turn sixty-five. Alzheimer’s has become a modern day epidemic, without a vaccination, miracle drug or treatment.
For every $100 dollars the government spends on Alzheimer’s research, it spends more than $25,000 to care for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Every 70 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer’s. We
can’t afford to wait for someone else to find the solution. We must take an active part in raising the awareness with our neighbors and friends. Simply ask your neighbor if he or she is aware of these appalling statistics.
Alzheimer’s is not just a little memory loss, it eventually kills, but not before it takes everything away from you. Most of America’s baby boomers will spend their retirement years either with Alzheimer’s or caring for someone who has
it.
We need your help to raise the hope that one day in the near future Alzheimer’s will be eradicated in this country just as polio was. We can’t do it without your financial support or your time as a volunteer. Be as generous as you can. The mind and memories you save may be your own. Please call 614-457-6003 today and pledge your support to end Alzheimer’s disease.
