CHARLESTON, W.Va. — People gathered at Grace Bible Church Wednesday evening to share their experience caring for those with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as raise awareness of the neurological disorder.
The West Virginia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alpha Omicron Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority organized the event on the summer solstice, the day of the year with the longest period of daylight.
Association family services coordinator J.T. Hunter said the fact June 21 is the “longest day of the year” is symbolic.
“You can do what you want to do,” he said. “We all have a common goal here, myself included.”
More than 37,000 people in West Virginia have the disease according to the association.
The event attendees sang songs, shared stories of loved ones and explained their experience seeing loved ones with the disease.
One of those was Arnise Murray of Montgomery. She drove to the event to honor her mother, who was diagnosed eight years ago.
“Each time I would go home, we would notice something was going on with her,” she said.
The moment that changed Murray’s understanding of her mother’s future happened after a missed telephone conversation.
“My mother would call me every single day. We just had that type of relationship,” Murray explained. “Then it got to the point where she wasn’t calling anymore.”
“I would call and say, ‘Mom, you aren’t calling me,” and she would say, “Yes, I did call you.'”
Murray said she wants to get more involved in raising awareness, especially after Wednesday’s gathering.
“Alzheimer’s people cannot be an advocate for themselves,” she said. “They don’t know what’s going on, so it has to be the caregiver and it has to be the family that’s able to do all that.”
Hunter said people start grieving from the first diagnosis without reflecting on the past.
“We never talk about the positive,” Hunter said. “There are some moments of joy. There are some things we can laugh about.”