This is My Dad's Story

A few months ago, confronted with the knowledge that he may be facing Frontotemporal Degeneration/dementia, my 64 year old Dad looked at me and said, “I have a job for you if you can stomach it.  I want you to document this process so you can write a book one day that will help others.”

I have always loved writing.  Writing is cathartic for me.  My dad knows this.  What a blessing to be given this task.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised by Dad’s wish.  He has always been one of the most giving, selfless people I’ve ever known.  Yes, he could be a bear at times…just ask his former employees!  But under the occasional grizzly bear exterior lies a teddy bear with the biggest heart you ever saw.  For nearly 40 years, Dad owned his own pharmacy.  I can’t even begin to count the lives he touched through his business.  He went back at midnight for sick babies (even of families who weren’t his customers).  He held tickets for people who needed their medicine right away but couldn’t pay at that time.  If the pharmacy was out of a medication, he tracked it down at another pharmacy in town and sent one of us to get it so his customer would get their medication that day…usually within 10-15 minutes.  I had the privilege of working with Dad for the last 6 years of the pharmacy.  I wouldn’t trade those days with him for anything!  

Every December he and I would sit down and discuss who we wanted to bless that Christmas.  Some of our customers had run up quite a drug bill and just couldn’t make ends meet and pay their bill.  Dad and I would together choose someone deserving, and we would give that person a note that said something like, 

“Your account balance is now $0.00.  Your debt has been forgiven just as Jesus has forgiven us our debts.  Merry Christmas!”  There was never a dry eye from the recipient of one of those notes.

You see, that’s the kind of person my Dad is.  He gives wholeheartedly. 

Dad has served on numerous boards and commissions in our community and church.  In 2008-2009 he was even President of the Georgia Pharmacy Association—the highlight of his career and some of the best days of his life.

Sometimes I feel like the “glory days” are over.  I feel sad and hopeless since Dad was diagnosed in June 2012, not with FTD as we first suspected, but with LBD (Lewy Body Disease).  The teddy bear in a grizzly bear body is having his physical and mental health snatched right out from under his feet.  We don’t know how long or short the process will be.  We don’t know how painful it will be.  We don’t know what financial and physical resources will be needed in the future or how soon they will be needed.  What we do know is that a courageous, giving man of God who loves his family and his community is slowly turning into someone it’s hard to recognize on some days.  Most days are good, a few days are great, but those “some days” are devastating to watch.

This is a family effort, and Our first few blog posts will be in jumbled order.  We waited a few months to begin this blog because we needed to collect our thoughts.  We will try to use the next few posts to document Dad’s backstory, his diagnosis, and his recent months.  It is my family’s prayer that this blog will be a blessing to someone.  Whether you are a family member/caregiver, a patient with LBD or other dementia, or just someone who is going through a rough patch in life, it is our prayer that God will use the words He places in our hearts to speak to yours.

This is our Dad's story.  It is our honor to share it with you.

~Ashley

(LBD is a family journey...so each of us will be contributing to the blog at various points and sharing our thoughts, observations, hopes, and fears. My brother (Alex), sister (Kelli), Mom (Judy), Dad, and Aunt Charlotte (Dad's sister) will be the primary contributors.  I will indicate at the end of each post who the author of that post is.  We will also try to provide as much information about LBD as we can as well as research updates and news articles.)