from the foundation
Ski trip takes detour, shows fragility of life By Aaron Hiatt
Easter weekend provided an interesting opportunity for me. A friend and I
skied at Winter Park Resort in Colorado. The trip was to be the high point and end of our ski season. The funny thing is, in 30 years I probably won’t remember that day at Winter Park, but I won’t forget my experience the next evening.
The trip was not made to allow a late-season chance at gliding through fresh
powder. My parents traveled to Greeley, Colo., so they could help my dad’s siblings clean my grandmother’s house. She recently moved to a nursing home because of Alzheimer’s disease.
My parents took me to the nursing home to see my grandmother. It was really difficult to see her in her condition.
She rarely asks any questions or initiates a conversation. She loses interest quickly and repeats herself frequently. It’s amazing that she had been able to take care of herself at home only a short time before.
Meeting her in the nursing home startled me. I do not think she recognized me. I don’t think she even recognized
my dad. He tried to teach her how to turn on her television with the remote control. When he asked her about five minutes later if she could turn it off, she had forgotten already. Her disease is a terrible one.
Alzheimer’s disease is just one of many ailments that deliver a devastating strike to life. I do not want to fear death or debilitation, I only want to live a life that is fulfilling and free from second-guessing.
It’s kind of funny how the skiing part of the trip, the part I was looking forward to, fell into the shadows. Maybe
it took that fun experience combined with a difficult one to show me just how much I need to be grateful for the life and health I have.
So, as you reflect on the stories in this magazine about Alzheimer’s and think about the people you know who struggle with varied forms of dementia, I invite you to join the Good Samaritan Society’s mission and ministry by helping to educate nurses so they have the best preparation possible to care for residents who have this disease.
A gift to our staff scholarship fund will go a long way in Yes, I would like to make a difference!
1. Choose a payment method: Check: I am enclosing my gift for $__________________. (make checks payable to Good Samaritan Foundation)
Pledge: I pledge $________________ to be paid in 2011. Online: I will make an online gift at
www.good-sam.com. Credit card: Please charge $____________ to my credit card: Visa Mastercard American Express Discover
Card #:_______________________ Exp. date: ___________ Name on card: _____________________________________
2. Please fill out the information below: Name: ___________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________ City:_______________________ State:_____ ZIP:________
3. Cut out this panel card and mail it and your gift to: The Good Samaritan Foundation PO Box 5038, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5038
Your gift is tax-deductible within IRS regulations.
helping us grow our own nursing staff. Recently, Friends of the Society whose family members struggle with the impact of dementia made a $10,000 matching gift challenge to this scholarship program. Because of this, your gift will be doubled and provide even more help to the Good Samaritan Society as we carry out our mission of sharing God’s love by caring for those with this disease. To learn more, go to
www.good-sam.com.
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