May
14
The Alzheimer’s Project – Oregon Chapter
by Maxim in COYOD
On Monday the 11th, we were invited to a showing of the first part of The Alzheimer’s Project on HBO. It was held at the Bridgeport Brewery, one of the many microbreweries in the city. With no where to go before it started we arrived 2 hours early. They were very nice and allowed us to store our bikes, trailers and panniers in the bike store room. The upstairs was reserved and people were pouring in. We met Kate Dyer-Seely, who enthusiastically introduced us to many COYOD, including Felicia Heaton and Rebecca Channer. We exchanged information and set dates to meet this weekend. We were also introduced to Kenny and Shakur, who are with the Rock Against Alzheimer’s. We met Mark, the president of the board, and he called his step son, Jake, whose mother has Young Onset Alzheimer’s, to come to the brewery. It was a huge success.
The feature was “The Memory Loss Tapes”, which Em and I had seen the previous night. Delighted not to have to go through the tough experience of watching this documentary two nights in a row, when Jake arrived we joined him in the bar to chat. We exchanged stories and he told his well. We were the first COYOD he had met and his mother was diagnosed many years ago. We talked through the end of the showing and went back in the room to finish up.
Cindy and Steve Klitz, who we planned to stay with for two days, came to the showing and afterwards took us to their humble abode. We will share the joys of that stay shortly…