This photo is of my Mom and some guy taken many many years ago, probably about the 1947 time frame. By the time this photo was taken she had already served her country during WWII working in a Boeing aircraft factory, by climbing inside the wings of B-29 Bombers with a rivet gun and a flashlight. She actually went on the marry the guy in the car with her (Yup! That's my Dad) and they raised four kids together. Her passion in life was her painting and she managed to travel to places like Ireland, Bahamas, Monhegan Maine, and Peru, where she traveled on the Amazon River in a dugout canoe with Amazonian Indians (They fished for and ate Parahna for a shore lunch) in search of subjects to photograph and later paint. We also lived in Germany for almost five years during the 1960s. She was a woman that loved life and lived it to the fullest. Unfortunately in her early 80s she developed Alzheimer's and it slowly took control of her life. I can tell you first hand that it is a truly horrible experience to watch a vibrant, energetic, funny, and wonderful person gradually reduced to a childlike state, and then worse. It was especially hard on my Father, her husband of 59 years. He had promised her when they were younger that when they grew older she would never have to go to a nursing home. He kept that promise. Even though he was 87 years old at the time, and had already survived a heart attack. He took care of all of her daily needs as she grew continually worse until the day she died, in her own home and bed, in my father's arms, on the morning of Easter Sunday, 2007. She was 86. My father was an incredible man and a great father, but for the way he kept his promise to my mom, refusing to put her in a home, he became something else to me, a hero.

The people suffering today from Alzheimer's are not just little old ladies and men laying in bed losing their memories. They are the Americans who served on the battlefields of Europe, the South Pacific' and the home front during WWII. They are the Americans who put man on the Moon. They are the Americans who stood up to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. They are the generation who faced some of Americas greatest challenges and won, making this the great country it is today, which is why they are often referred to as "The Greatest Generation". Others are veterans of Korea and Vietnam, as well as Americans who have made countless contributions to our freedom, our prosperity, and our way of life. Together, they have all stood up for us, their children and grandchildren in one way or another. Let us now stand up for them.

And they are not alone. Early Onset Alzheimer's has been known to strike between the ages of 30 and 40 years, though it is more common to see someone in their 50's who has the disease. As it is normally thought of as a condition that affects the aged, it is often misdiagnosed and progresses undetected and untreated until symptons begin to show in their 60s. Again it is not just a condition of little old ladies and men loosing their memories, something that is often made the butt of jokes, it is a serious disease that ultimately, in one way or another, affect most of us.

Thats why I am asking you to join me in the fight against Alzheimer's by supporting the "Walk to End Alzheimer's in Space Coast" on Saturday October 1st 2011 at the Avenue Viera in Viera FL. Registration is at 9AM and the walk begins at 10AM. There are many ways to support the fight against this deadly disease at this event. You can get sponsors and walk, or you can provide manpower support at the event, or you can make a donation. Call 407-951-7992 for more info.

Thank you,

Dean Pettit,

Space Coast Outdoors