Please feel free to check out a wonderful piece in a New York newspaper on the "Love and Heartache" of Alzheimer's Disease. They followed 6 families at different stages of the illness, one of which was an EOAD family (this is my family). www.Newsday.com (click on "Alzheimer's link at the top of the home page). These stories are amazing and have created such a reaction. They were written beautifully and the pictures speak volumes. I had to share them.

Karen, you have a beautiful family. Thank you for being willing to share in order to make others' lives better.

My husband is 54, and just diagnosed 18 months ago with EOAD. We have 3 children, 11, 5, and 3. Your story brought tears many times, as I know the road that you walk.

Thank you for sharing, and tell your daughter to never give up her dream of making that film. It sounds like a beautiful movie that I would pay more than full price to see.
And tell your son to follow his dream no matter what. I wanted to be in the medical field ever since I was a little girl. I have been a nurse professionally for over 10 yrs now, and I love my job. My dream for my children is that they find things in life that they love, and that they do them.

Thanks again for sharing.

Karen,

Thank you so much for sharing your story and your family with us.

Ya'll are truly an inspiration to us all!

Good luck to you and yours.

DSM-
I'm sorry to hear about your husband. I agree with you as far as your children are concerned. I continue to push each of my children to follow their dream. Because my husband has the familial form of AD, each of my children have a 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene. I CONSTANTLY instill in them to do what makes them happy, without of course, going crazy.

Good luck with everything.

Lisa -

Thank you. I am so proud of the work and the way in which the newspaper put this story together, I felt compelled to share. Feel free to let them know how much you like it. They worked so long and hard and they did an AMAZING job.

Karen, my wife was diagnosed at age 49. I can only dream that I might be able to hold up as well as you seem to be holding up. You and your kids truly are an inspiration. I saw an update in today's Newsday about how people have stepped up to help you out - it was the best news I've heard in a long long time.

RedSox2004 - Not sure my son would approve of this reply to you - he's the BIGGEST Yankee fan ever
What makes me feel better about all the attention this article has generated, is that I have found out that the local Alzheimer's organizations have gotten numerous calls from people who otherwise may not have reached out for help. That makes it ALL worth it for me.

Stay strong and thank you.