Reminding us of Alzheimer’s

By Darrell Laurant

Published: September 22, 2008

As a minister, Chuck McGhee never liked to ask for money. “I’d let the church elders do that,” he said. “It made me uncomfortable.”

But not as uncomfortable as the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease that has shadowed him for the past five years. So McGhee was in Riverside Park on Saturday morning, helping to raise money for Alzheimer’s research by participating in the annual Memory Walk.

“This,” he said, “I didn’t mind getting donations for.”

McGhee knows he’s one of the lucky ones — for now.

“I’ve been told that I’m atypical,” he said with a wry smile. “Usually after three or four years, Alzheimer’s is much farther along. That keeps me hoping that maybe it’s something else, although they tell me that it isn’t.”

You’d never guess at that diagnosis from talking with him for a few minutes, but those closest to him know. Like his wife, Norma Jean.

“She’s the one who told me I needed to get checked out,” McGhee said. “And she also talked me into letting her drive me around so I wouldn’t have to drive anymore.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the only life-threatening illness, as far as I know, that people make jokes about.

You won’t hear any good cancer jokes, or side-splitting AIDS gags. But there are plenty of one-liners — many of them funny — about aging and loss of memory.

Granted, these are mostly general comments about the universal effects of getting older. But as Alzheimer’s continues to invade the ranks of baby boomers like a fungus into a field of corn, the humor is going to wear thin quickly.

“One in three people in the United States will be directly affected by Alzheimer’s by the time they’re 65,” said Norma Jean McGhee, who has joined her husband in trolling the Internet for clues.

Which means either personally affected or taking care of a family member with the disease. That’s not funny at all.

These days, of course, it’s a case of too many diseases, too little cash.

“The government hasn’t increased funding for Alzheimer’s research in a number of years,” said Chuck McGhee. “It’s been adjusted for inflation, but that’s all.”

Which leaves organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Foundation to raise the money itself. The problem in Lynchburg is, the Alzheimer’s Foundation consists of Cindy BonDurant. Period.

“We had a great volunteer turnout for the Memory Walk today,” BonDurant said Saturday morning. “Around 60, including students from LC, LU, Sweet Briar and Randolph. Where I need help is in the office. I’m the only one there, and I have to be out a lot, so there’s no one to answer the phone.”

Saturday, there was probably no need — just about everyone who cared about the issue was in the park, more than 500 of them. Clumps of people in purple shirts wandered along the road and across the grass as announcements crackled from a sound system set up in the park’s gazebo.

One of them was Gerard Hutcherson, brother of the former mayor, who said: “It’s just something our church (Jackson Street United Methodist) has taken on. Last year, we won the award for raising the most money.”

That money, BonDurant said, is used to fund local support groups and educational outreach.

“And if anyone specifically asks that their money go for research, that’s where it all goes.”

Something to remember.