Greg, I listened to my first three episodes today. I’m 59 and was diagnosed last January. Like you, I told my oldest son before anyone else. His reaction, while quite different in the specifics from your son’s reaction, had the same level of healthy intensity. Today is his birthday and, more than any other day in my life since he was born 32 years ago, I treasure him and our relationship. I’m certainly a most fortunate fellow having had him and his equally fantastic younger brother and sister. I’ve chosen, since the beginning, to be absolutely open to as many people as I can about my condition. I immediately started cracking jokes about it and my kids and other family members and friends have followed suit. I’m watching as some others in my ALZ support group here in Portland, OR, try to keep their condition under wraps, and it pains me for them and those closest to them. I need that help and humor every single day and I hope that my openness - and yours’ - eventually becomes the social standard for ALZ patients. It makes my compromised life so much easier than it would be if I were silent. I’m certain that my family and friends are better-suited to help me because I brought them into my struggle early on.

Greg is not afraid to tell like it is, which is critically important for others to truly understand this disease in all its forms. No one tells it better from a first person perspective. This information is so important on so many levels, one of which is to help demystify the disease and to help reduce the stigmas associated with it. Thank you my friend, for doing everything that you do and for telling your story and for all of us who are affected by this disease. Mike Belleville