“My dad was career Air Force and we moved every three years and I lived all over the United States. I have always wanted to retrace the steps and visit some of the homes I grew up in. I haven’t done it yet. My wife is now disabled and we can’t travel. She has frontotemporal lobar degeneration and was diagnosed with early onset dementia when she was 62. That changed our retirement plans. It has been difficult and a challenge. I have a very supportive church and tried to be proactive and get involved in activities that can help others. I started a support group for FTD caregivers and we meet the last Wednesday of each month. We have touched a need. I have also been involved in education seminars and went the caregiver college from the Council on Aging. It has given me a new outlook and a purpose. I retired last year in May and did not intend to retire when I did, the division dissolved and my job was gone, so I became a full-time caregiver for my wife. The first year after the diagnosis was the hardest because I realize I had no one to confide in and no support, you are on your own. You have to be your spouse’s advocate for everything and make all of the financial decisions. Sitting by the bay is still one of the things we like to do together, but I couldn’t bring her today because it is a little too windy and that would have bothered her.”
I played in enough clubs–I never wanted to have my own
“I'm from Dauphin Island, so my family goes way back. My mother was the oldest girl of 13 children, and all of her...
Dementia, whether it be Alzheimer’s, or whether it has any other name placed on it…the devastation it brings is the same. For me it is at least equal to the death of a loved one. They are gone but they are still standing there staring you in the face. You can see them, you can touch them, yet they are gone…it hurts to the core and the hurt deepens every time you look at the person who used to be, God bless this man as he moves forward into the darkness that has grabbed his partner in life.
Mrs.Debbie is a beautiful woman and one of the first people at our church to ask us out so she could get to know us better. (we have tried to do the same for others bc that touched us so much) What awesome things Mr. Jerry is now doing due to the struggles they are walking through! Praying for them both!