Lee's Channel Swim fundraiser for Alzheimer's Society
Lee Vallett is raising money for Alzheimer's Society
In memory of Grandma
Story
My Grandma had Alzheimer’s which means I’ve seen first hand the impact is has on lives. It takes everything. Thankfully, she loved to sing, something I shared with her, so I know she had music to comfort her to the very end.
I’m fundraising for Alzheimer’s in the hope that there will be a world where other people’s Grandmas might not be devastated by this awful disease.
Those who know me will also know I credit a lot of the good things in my life to Sir Terry Pratchett who also died suffering terribly from this condition. He called it the “Embuggerance”!
“Alzheimer's is me, unwinding, losing trust in myself, a butt of my own jokes and on bad days capable of playing hunt the slipper by myself and losing. You can't battle it, you can't be a plucky survivor. It steals you from yourself.” Terry Pratchett
Who knows which one of us it will take next.
But I know every bit counts. So whatever this swim demands of me, I’ll give it everything I have. I might not make it, but I’m pretty sure I’ll at least get very close. And when it’s really hurting, I’ll know at least I have the choice to give “everything”, it won’t be taken from me. And maybe, like my Grandma always did, I’ll have a song for that!
And finally, on why did I choose the Channel? I think Terry understood us humans as well as anyone!
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.
Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time (Discworld, #26;