This project has been something Mitzi and I have talked about for a long time because we both had such a heart to break the stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s and shed light on what it’s like to have this at 57. But, as with everything in life, timing is everything. So when our very sweet and incredibly talented friend Nancy joined The Dream Team (as Mitzi calls the circle of friends and family she has helping her in this season), I knew there was no one better to help the logo for I’ll Remember For You get out of my head and onto a piece of paper.
I had seen a picture of a tree losing its leaves on an Alzheimer’s support group page over a year ago and it haunted me. There is so much symbolism there: the leaves floating away first (typically, it’s the short term memories that are the first to go with Alz because the hippocampus, which forms those short-term memories, is affected first), but the roots staying firm (because the brain stem is the last part to be affected). I wanted a cardinal firmly seated in the tree, helping to stay constant even as the branches become bare.
What a tremendous gift for us to have a friend who was able to effortlessly translate my rambling idea into this picture that I treasure…
(By the way…Want a better understanding of how Alzheimer’s affects each area of the brain? This is a great reference: best-alzheimers-products.com/the-alzheimers-brain.html)
