We Don't Remember Days, We Remember Moments

But what if we couldn’t remember all of those moments that we all hold so dear to our hearts? What if we couldn’t remember who we were or recognize our own family members? Today, there are over 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease. Now when we think about Alzheimer’s, typically we think that memory is the only thing affected, but what many of us don’t realize is that Alzheimer’s is also a deadly disease. It kills more people than Breast and Prostate Cancer combined. Sigma Kappa is dedicated to promoting awareness for Alzheimer’s as well as raising money to go toward research to finding the cure. Our Ultra Violet week, which just passed, is one way that we do this.

There are many of us who have been personally affected by this disease which has allowed a bond to form that may not have happened if Sigma Kappa didn’t bring us together. Something that I find extremely special and unique about this chapter is that we become directly involved with this cause that we’re all so passionate about. Each week during the semester, sisters go to a local nursing home and personally, I have never found something more rewarding. Now I always joke about how I’m a grandma at heart, but hey, maybe that’s why I get along so well with older people!

I’ve been to plenty of nursing homes in my day but this was the first time I would be going to talk to people I didn’t know. I didn’t know what to expect. As soon we walked in, the activities girls welcomed us with open arms. They were so excited that we were there to help them out because the residents greatly outnumbered them. When I found my way back to the Alzheimer’s and Dementia unit, there was only one activities woman. She’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life, but unfortnuately many times it was only her working with these residents. So from then on whenever I go, I always go back to that unit. And while I’m doing something as simple as just talking to them, playing cards with them or reading to them while they sleep, when I walk through the door and they recognize me, it means so much. They may not remember my name all the time and ask me a bunch of the same questions every time I’ve been there, but when they see me come through the door I can see their faces light up because they finally have someone to talk to.

My favorite memory from this nursing home was when I was reading to a woman who barely speaks and sleeps most of the time. The activities woman said that she loved “Chicken Soup for the Soul” so I was reading that to her. When her husband came, he sat next to me and couldn’t express how much it meant to him that we were there with the residents. We continued talking and I learned all about him, his family, his wife, etc. It got to a point where his wife started to wake up and speak and interact with me, forming questions to ask me about my life and taking my hand. When it came time for me to leave, her husband, with tears in his eyes, said that that was the most aware that he has seen her in about a year and that he thinks it was because I was there. Words cannot express how grateful I was, especially in that moment, that Sigma Kappa gave me this wonderful opportunity. My experiences there have changed my life and it’s moments like these that I hope I will never forget.