As Daniele and I gather with our friends in this time of celebration, it's hard not to think about our family not with us, or not fully with us.

As those from my side of the family know, we recently held a celebration of life for my Pake, Okke Bouma, who passed away following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's. And as those from Daniele's side are well aware, her grandmother Sally has been continuing the battle for years. She is able to join us in the celebration but not with the enthusiasm we know she would like to show! (Along with a lot of embarrassing Daniele I'm sure!)

This cruel disease not only eventually takes you away from your family but takes your family away from you, piece by piece, loving memory by loving memory. We have been to enough weddings where the wedding favour is hardly memorable so instead we wanted to team up with you to allow others to keep their memories. We have set up a goal but we are not trying to reach this goal on this page, but instead would also encourage you to keep any Alzheimer's groups in your mind when it comes to your year end giving from here on out. Who knows, you may be helping Daniele or I remember this day in our old age.

By making a donation on this page, you are helping to transform the lives of individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. By supporting the work of the Alzheimer Society of B.C., you are ensuring there is a province-wide organization dedicated to providing services and programs to help families faced with dementia have the confidence and skills to maintain quality of life, to supporting the search for the cure.