The earliest memories I have of my Dad are him taking Alison & I to the beach.  He worked shift work so was able to take us on outings to all the beautiful beaches in Northern Ireland in the summer.

When we were in school, he got the job of getting us ready for the day as Mom left for work early.  He had many struggles getting us to put on our tights and to get our hair in pig tails

Thursdays were pay days so on Thursday nights he would always bring home comics and candy for us girls & always some Raspberry Ruffles or a Fry’s Chocolate Crème for Mom

Dad was a Mini enthusiast, there were usually a few of them in the driveway in various bits & pieces as he would sometimes make one good one out of a couple of wrecks We also had one as our family car.  Don’t let the size fool you as there are many times that I remember him or Mom driving us girls and a pile of friends around to one event or another….

Once we’d moved to Canada, the size of our family car increased to what we might have referred to as ‘a boat’ One day while we were getting to know Calgary, we ended up going the wrong way on McLeod Trail in a big old Chevy Impala (it was 1977 )

Over the next 30 plus years Dad went through many vehicles and enjoyed every one of them, he loved to drive and it was extremely hard for him when his dementia meant that he would no longer be able to.

Even though he was living with the illness, he never lost his sense of humor even joking many times that he’d forgotten to take his memory pills

I know that there are still many who don’t have an understanding of the disease so I thought I would list a few facts that I’ve pulled from the Alzheimer’s Society web site.  I’ve also posted a few articles around the room.

·        Dementia is an overall term for a group of disorders affecting the brain

·        Many diseases can cause dementia the most common being Alzheimer’s disease

·        Symptoms include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem solving or language

·        These symptoms can become severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities

·        Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse, there is no cure

·        Researchers now believe that early detection will be the key to preventing, slowing & someday stopping Alzheimer’s disease

So even though Dad was unlucky in that he developed Dementia….he had little luck of the Irish when it came to the lottery winning twice.  Once with a group of guys from the Herald many years ago and then a few years later winning a small but decent amount on his own.  He always said that his third prize would be the big one - I’m just going to assume now that he’s left it for one of us (family) to win……

Thanks Dad!!!!!