Alzheimer Awareness

though alzheimer's has not affected any of my family or friends, it has come to my life via a course my mother-in-law is taking. she has a major project on it due in july. we have spoken on it, & i've given some ideas on beginning her project, their group has decided to write & video a play. anyhow, this has made alzheimer's jump out at me everywhere, & knowing nothing about it i've had to read a bit. i found this site. fantastic little film, one of four, that explains what's what.



i suppose there's tons of info on the subject, but i thought i'd share a few things that were interesting.

there's also the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Raising Awareness & Funding Research Through Art. "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece" is an exhibit of 52 extraordinary art quilts about Alzheimer's disease that is traveling throughout the United States October 2010. The work of 54 quilt artists from 30 states, plus one artist from New Zealand is represented in the exhibit. The artists, many internationally renowned, offer poignant interpretations of the Alzheimer's experience in fiber. Themes include imaginings of an existence stripped of memory and learning; gritty illustrations of the anger, frustration, and stress of care-giving; beautiful tributes to loved ones taken by Alzheimer's; and the anticipation of a future cure. They are quilts of heartbreak and hope. Each artist statement is paired with a fact about Alzheimer's.

i hope i never have to learn about this disease first hand, but for those that have my heart & thoughts are with you & your family.

create awareness.

help fund Alzheimer's research to find a cure,

Purple Patch Project to honour & remember. The AAQI is preparing for a new traveling exhibit that will open in January 2011. The backdrop to the exhibit will be 10,000 names of people who have/had Alzheimer's each printed in permanent marker on the wrong side of purple fabric patches and stitched into 182 quilts that measure 6" wide by about 7 feet long.

Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece (book)

Alzheimer's Society of Canada