If you have the privilege of living long enough, you learn that one thing you can always count on is change. Changes that occur as we age may include retirement, wrinkles, growing families, and more. But what changes happen to our brains as we age? How do we handle change if we become one of the more than 11 million people caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia?

The music has faded, and the confetti swept away, as we close out the sweet 16th Annual Speedy PD Race for Parkinson’s Disease. We kicked off the party on Friday evening at the Holiday Inn at the Campus for Empowered Live!: An Evening to Celebrate Living Well with Parkinson’s. Guests enjoyed a delicious dinner buffet and viewed the creative talents of our VIPDs (Very Important People with Parkinson’s Disease) before learning more about Lee Silverman Voice Treatment therapies from Kathleen Depperschmidt, Speech Language Pathologist.

As human beings, caring for one another is an innate part of who we are. As former First Lady Rosalynn Carter stated, caregiving will impact all of us, most likely in more ways than one. During National Caregivers Month, the Meadowlark Special Programs team is writing a series of articles to celebrate the caring that is happening in our community. Throughout the month of November, we will explore topics important to, and impacting, care partners and their loved ones. We will share resources and the wisdom of the caregivers in our midst.