Written by Sarah Dayan Mueller
One of my Dad’s favorite things to do was to take a walk. Honestly, there was nothing more to it. He’d put his wallet in his back pocket, a handful of loose change in his front pocket, and usually took a baseball hat with him before he left the house. Aside from the occasional bad weather or if he was feeling under the weather, he made sure to go for a walk every single day he could. It didn’t matter if he went out to run errands or just to walk around the block, there was something about going outside and getting fresh air that was so regimented into his life that makes me appreciate the opportunities I have to do the same, because there came a point in his life when going out for a walk just wasn’t an option anymore.
So when I heard about the Alzheimer’s Association’s annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s event in Chicago, I didn’t hesitate to go. And when I say I heard about it, I mean I heard about it at 10:00 PM the night before the event. I signed up immediately, not having had the chance to raise awareness or money for the cause yet, but I knew the first step I had to take was to literally take my first step on the walk.
The following day, my mom, husband, and son all signed up for the walk about an hour before we left the house. We searched through our clothes to find purple shirts to wear in support of the cause, and found ourselves at the edge of Lake Michigan with hundreds of others who had loved ones who battled, or are currently maneuvering their way through dementia.
I had never participated in any type of walk for a cause before and quickly realized how that day would be much more than just a 2 mile walk around Chicago. We started the event at the kick off point near Soldier Field, where hundreds of people gathered, mostly dressed in shades of purple. Almost everyone held a forget me not flower in an array of colors. We picked up a few purple ones, to represent that we had lost someone to Alzheimer’s. Others carried yellow flowers, they were caregivers of someone with Alzheimer’s. Those who walked with orange flowers were there to support the cause, and scattered in the crowds were people holding blue flowers, those who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
The host mentioned that he hoped one day there would be a white flower, to represent the first person to survive Alzheimer’s, and at that time, I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s
My family and I walked with our purple flowers, my son loved seeing it spin in the warm breeze. We made our way around the Soldier Field, past the Shedd Aquarium and along the shores of Lake Michigan. With every step, I felt as if I was walking the steps my dad would have loved to walk himself.
I’m continuously learning how much of my dad’s adventurous spirit continues to live on within me.
My novel, Home in a Hundred Places, is all about his remarkably fearless and adventurous life, before Alzheimer’s disease robbed him of his memories. He traveled the world and lived in 9 different countries. But more importantly, he loved to walk, to see the world from the ground up, to feel the fresh air on his arms.
He is the reason why I walked, and he is the reason why I will go for a walk every day, for as long as I can.
