World Alzheimer’s Day

Memories, good and bad, are great. They make us who we are. I think it's funny sometimes the things we remember. I remember it poured down rain the day I got married. I remember The Wife and I spent 90% of the next day flying... and in bed... sleeping, because we spent the night before (after the reception) driving from Charleston to Atlanta and then had to get up at 4am to go to the airport for flight #1.

I can’t remember what The Wife’s favorite color is to save my life... but without much thought I can tell you that in 1987 with Georgia beating Clemson 20-16, the Clemson defense was able to come up with a huge safety. Clemson was then able to drive the ball down the field and with time running out (Clemson was out of timeouts) David Treadwell went out and kicked the game winning FG.

I can’t tell you what songs were played at our wedding, but I can hear with perfect clarity the chants of “Rodney! Rodney! Rodney!” that came from a packed Death Valley as Clemson QB Rodney Williams was pulled from the game after leading Clemson to a victory against USC in his final home game.

There are classes that I took in high school and college that I have no memory of, but I can tell you where I was when I saw the Winthrop Eagles beat Notre Dame in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

I can’t remember what my boss told me to do an hour after she says it... but I remember everything Coach Hatley told me to do when I played baseball for him in high school.

I could go on and on and on... but you get the point. Memories are great. Sure, every now and then there might be a bad one... but good memories can get you through hard times. So how much would life suck if we didn’t have memories? How sad would that be? What if you were a Clemson fan and didn’t have the happy memories of 63-17 or of 1981? What if you were a USC fan and didn’t have the happy memories of... well, you get my point.

Think how hard it would be if you had to take care of someone who had lost their memories. Some days maybe they know you, most days they don’t. They forget how to do simple things that we take for granted. Forget about enjoying the happy memory of David Treadwell kicking a game winning FG at Georgia in 1986, they don’t even remember how to use the bathroom. It’s sad. I see it a lot at work. Think of all the history and happy times lost because of Alzheimer’s. Think of all the stress put on friends and family members of people who have Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Association does a lot of good work for patients with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. My office works with them a good bit. They are having their Memory Walk on October 24, 2009. Our office is raising money for them. For the past 2 years, I have raised the most money at our office. As I write this, I am in 3rd place. So, if you don’t want to donate for the patients or caregivers... do it for me. Don’t let me come in 3rd place. Help me stay at #1. Give here. Don’t forget.