“I thought Alzheimer’s was just an elderly disease”
I was like everyone else that I know, I thought Alzheimer’s is just an elderly disease. Boy did I find out the hard way that is just not the case. My son Jason was diagnosed at 36 years old with early onset Alzheimer’s and 1 year later passed away. I watched as this monster robbed him, his wife, and 4 beautiful children of everything.
After my son was diagnosed I started researching Alzheimer’s and was blown away at the statistics. The sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. – are you kidding me? Why isn’t there more being done I thought to myself – why isn’t there more research, more money being allocated to finding a cure? I watched a young man go from a very intelligent, kind, loving person to a son who couldn’t even speak to me.
This has got to be stopped.
So what we are planning is a “Shave it all June” to bring awareness and raise funds for the longest day event. We are asking people to not shave until June 19th and on that day we are having a shave it all party. Some of us are shaving beards and heads, others are just saving the beards, with an auction to raise as much money as we possibly can to help end this horrific disease. By the way, a lot of our beards will be dyed purple for the week prior to the event to raise as much awareness as possible.
All this will take place at:
Green Valley Community Church
3500 Missouri Flat Rd.
Placerville, Ca.
June 19th, BBQ starts at 6 pm, shaving at 7 pm. If interested in joining us please contact Mike Manthe by email.
Mike Manthe
The Longest Day
Team Captain for Racin Jasons Alzstars
Helpful information related to this story:
To learn more about Jason
- http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a25812/early-onset-alzheimers/
- http://ellentube.com/videos/1-h2agfepk/
- http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/mckinney/headlines/20140213-love-endures-even-as-memories-fade.ece
- http://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/obituaries/jason-manthe-50146
- https://www.facebook.com/jason.manthe.tribute?fref=nf
