By Amanda Torres
When her father first began forgetting small things, Tampa resident Shannon Moroney felt the shift before anyone else did. She saw him nearly every day and even the smallest changes in his thoughts caught her attention.
“The slightest questions like, ‘Where are we going again?’ or ‘Why did we come here?’ I just knew there was something wrong,” Moroney recalled.
Her father, Dan McHugh, was a retired Delta Airlines captain and Navy veteran. He was calm, capable and always composed under pressure.
“Seeing that steadiness falter was jarring,” Moroney said. “Since I knew him so well and he was such a sharp person, I knew there was something wrong.”
Doctors diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s disease in 2010 at age 71. The disease progressed slowly over 12 years before his passing in 2022. During that time, her role changed considerably.
“It was such a dramatic shift for my life as a mother of teenagers, a working woman and now, a caregiver,” Moroney said.
Today, she is carrying that experience into a new chapter as co-chair of the Inspire, Imagine & Hope Gala on March 27 in Tampa, where business leaders and the community come together to raise awareness and support for the Alzheimer’s Association.
The Increased Need to Talk about Alzheimer’s
Moroney shared that Alzheimer’s disease needs to continue to be talked about more, so it could help remove the stigma surrounding it, and awareness can help people understand that it doesn’t make someone any less of a person.
Reflecting on her dad’s journey, Moroney said that “he was very embarrassed by Alzheimer’s and [he would say] ‘No, there’s nothing wrong with me.”
As her father’s symptoms worsened, she looked everywhere for guidance.
“The Alzheimer’s Association website was wonderful for me and connected me to a local in-person support group,” Moroney said. “There were women in there that had lost their husbands to Alzheimer’s, and it had been years since they passed, and they were still there because they were providing support for us.”
A Key Moment She Holds Onto
The clearest proof that her father remained himself came in one unforgettable instant. During a long-term care evaluation, he was unable to speak or answer simple questions. The nurse handed him a pen.
“He got a pen, sat there for 10 minutes and the nurse was just patiently waiting for him,” Moroney said. “Slowly, in uneven letters and written top to bottom, he wrote one word: love. I still have it to this day.”
Moroney knows many people wish they could erase the hardest parts of Alzheimer’s, but she sees the bittersweet exchange differently.
“I would take Alzheimer’s rather than lose him at 59 because he showed me what true love is,” she said. “Even when he didn’t know my name and didn’t know who I was, I was the only one who could calm him.”
Her caregiving experience steered her toward the Alzheimer’s Association long before she ever joined a committee.
“There is nothing more moving than to listen to somebody’s experience up there on stage,” Moroney said.
Now she is stepping forward, eager to help others find the network she leaned on. Her message to families navigating the disease today is simple and earned through lived experience.
“Seek support,” Moroney said. “There is so much to learn, and you don’t have to do it alone. Within all of this, your loved one is still there.”
Join Moroney and hundreds of others on March 27 at the Inspire, Imagine & Hope Gala. Attendees will enjoy a spectacular evening featuring a cocktail reception, gourmet dinner experience, live auction, inspiring mission, moments and dancing.
For more information and sponsorship opportunities, visit AlzTampaGala.org.
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