Here is our story...

Where do I begin…7 years ago you were taken from all of us just after 5 short, crazy, insane weeks of being “sick”. I never imagined in a million years that I would be sitting here at 40 years old without my mother. Outside of your kids getting married I don’t think anything would have made you happier in life with the exception of grandchildren. That is all you ever talked about. You had your grandpuppies, which you loved dearly but you always talked about when we would all have kids. I tried so hard for you for pretty much 4 years with no dice. We finally were able to get pregnant with twins and you weren’t even here to see it. I remember talking to you about whether or not we could afford to do IVF and you were so happy that we decided we had to try at least one time. If it was meant to be it would work and if it didn’t, well at least we tried. That was probably the last 100% coherent conversation I had with you. After that things became different. You became different. At first I didn’t think much of it, just thought you were worried about 1000 different things, just tired from work but it was much more then that. You started calling multiple times a day, not remembering that we spoke about the same things earlier that day. I still just chalked it up to you “getting older” and just being forgetful. I remember telling you I was finally pregnant with twins!! It was over the phone and you were excited don’t get me wrong but I didn’t get the reaction I was expecting. Not even 2 weeks later you were sent home from work for “forgetful” behavior. I feel like everything was down hill from there. I still as clear as day remember when you got home from the first doctor appointment and they were sending you for an MRI of your brain. Dad called me and I came over as soon as I could. You were laying down on the family room couch watching TV. You told me I shouldn’t be here since I was pregnant you didn’t want to “give” me anything. Little did we know at the time that what you had was not contagious. I remember hugging you so tight as you broke down and cried. I cried too and said, “it will be ok, we will fix this, you will get better.” But guess what, just the opposite happened, she did not get better, only worse with every day, every hour it seemed. I took a leave of absence from work, to help you, to help Dad and it is something I will never regret but don't want to live through again. I have never in my life felt like everything was ripped out from in front me as quickly as that. This disease is relentless, it deteriorates your brain and as it does that you lose that function. To watch her lose her ability to walk, the ability to speak, dress herself, bath herself, take care of herself and eat was the worst thing I have ever had to experience. In a matter of 5 weeks she was gone, just like that. My precious Mom, my heart, my best friend just gone and left me with such emptiness that I can never fill. My diner and shopping buddy, the one I would call for every single good and bad thing that was happening, the person who kept me grounded and was always interested in what was going on in my life. The one that would tell me where to put her Christmas ornaments and ask me what to buy Keith for Christmas since he always figured out the gifts anyways. She was finally going to be the grandmother that she lived her whole life to be and just like that it was taken away from all of us.  For me to see her reaction with my kids, for me to see my kids interact with her and see the smiles on their faces when Grandma comes over would have been the greatest thing in my life. I was lucky to have known her for 33 years, wish it would have been a hell of a lot longer but such is life. I miss her every single day and I owe this to her.

If you have read this far, I thank you! Please support us and our team so we can find a treatment and a cure. Let's raise as much money as possible so not a single family has to go through this again!! xoxo