The Kaiser family understands their journey with dementia is a lot different from many people impacted by this fatal disease.
“We had a lot of time with David....years and years of being together, years of him laughing and being happy,” said Linda Kaiser about her husband, who died in 2018. “He being really sick was a matter of months out of the whole 14 years of the disease.”
Linda, who lives in Richmond Hill, and her daughters, Laurie DiCarlo of Newmarket and Robyn Mogil of Toronto, said they feel blessed their husband/father, David, was the same fun-loving man he was throughout his Alzheimer's disease journey. However, the family knows for many York Region families, their experience doesn't mirror theirs — their journey is often mentally and physically exhausting.
It is this reason, Linda and her family are participating in this year's IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's, which is taking place virtually Sunday, May 31 at noon. The Kaisers want to raise awareness about the disease and funds to ensure York Region residents impacted by dementia receive the support and services they need.
Linda, herself, was provided with an Alzheimer Society of York Region (AS York) social worker, attended a support group and used the Thornhill D.A.Y. centre, which she called a “godsend”. She said her family is forever grateful for the compassionate people at the organization.
The Kaiser family is this year's Honorary Family for the 2020 online walk. Visit bit.ly/HonFam2020 to read more about their story.
York Region residents are invited to www.walkforalzheimers.ca to register and begin fundraising. On walk day, people can share what they are doing on social media using the hashtags #igwalkforalz and #WalkOnline2020. Tag AS York on Facebook (AlzheimerSocietyYork); Instagram (alzheimeryr); and Twitter (@ASYork) so we can share your posts.
Visit bit.ly/BattleCreekWarriors to donate to the Kaiser family team.
— Contributed by Lisa Day, communications and fund development coordinator at Alzheimer Society of York Region
