Together For A Cause: How Alzheimer’s Unites Us for The Longest Day

By Victoria Kevers

Alzheimer’s has been around Margaret “Peggy” Harter all her life – her mother, her aunt, her grandmother and many friends have passed from it. 

Growing up, Peggy remembers six-month-long stays from her grandmother who would relocate to St. Petersburg, Fla, where her family could keep a watchful eye. The other half of the year was spent with Peggy’s aunt back in Pennsylvania. All of Peggy’s 1960s childhood was spent watching her grandma gradually forget everything and everyone she knew.

“My mother called it ‘hardening of the arteries’ whenever we asked her what was wrong with Grandma. I remember one time when she walked away from our home and we couldn’t find her. Mom called the police and they found her several blocks away sitting in a car. It was very scary, especially for a young person,” Harter said. “Grandma and all her siblings had Alzheimer’s, as did my mother and my aunt. It’s something scary that my sister and I worry about all the time because we know it can run in families.”

Peggy’s sister became a caregiver for their mother, who eventually moved to an assisted living facility in Nashville during her own battle with Alzheimer’s.

“I flew up to Nashville frequently to visit my mother while she was there. Over those years, I was able to see how she changed from the person I had known,” Harter said. “Luckily, she always knew who my husband and I were and always called us by name. She kept her calm nature and never became mean or angry.”

Peggy’s mother lived for four more years before passing away at the age of 86 in 2005.

Harter says, “All of this gave me the desire to do whatever I could do to help eliminate Alzheimer’s.”

“When I moved in 5 years ago, I ate at a table with five other ladies. Two of them have since passed away from Alzheimer’s, and the other three have different levels of dementia that I have seen develop. I have lost many friends from here.”

This has fueled Peggy’s desire to make a difference, not only in honor of her family and friends, but for a larger community with the same goal: to rid the world of Alzheimer’s and all forms of dementia.

She made the decision to join a sorority, the Florida Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa (ADK), and has felt nothing but love and support since.

“The hardest part of doing this was watching how people deteriorated and often changed personalities, some slowly and others more quickly. I also could see the effect it had on the family members, usually spouses or children,” Harter said.

So, Peggy and her ADK sisters support The Longest Day, an annual fundraising campaign organized by the Alzheimer’s Association, every year. On Feb. 10, they will have their monthly ADK meeting where they will give the option for members to donate to one program and one altruistic project. While not a requirement, the amount they collect will be given to the Alzheimer’s Association in support of The Longest Day on June 21.

“Many of our members had or are dealing with an elderly parent or family member with Alzheimer’s,” Harter said. “Hearing from [Alzheimer’s Association Longest Day manager] Denise and supporting The Longest Day [will] help them to realize they are not alone in this fight and that the Alzheimer’s Association can provide helpful resources and support.”

Fundraising and educating are the first steps to supporting Alzheimer’s care, education and support in Florida. Like Peggy, who is driven by the people who surround her and by the ones she’s lost, it only takes a little to make a big difference. We may not be able to eliminate Alzheimer’s alone, but we can do it together.