On the move

This morning, I joined a good friend in downtown Austin for the Alzheimer Association’s 5K Memory Walk. We walked in honor of her dad…and I had an added incentive to walk a little faster.

Mr. C.M. “Toots” Farnum.

My paternal grandfather was a great man. A funny, fiesty, hard-working guy. I may have only been in middle school when he passed away at age 79 from Alzheimer’s but the impact it had on me was greater than I imagined.

I suppose there’s no list – nor should there be – with rankings of the hardest diseases in which to cope. I just know that this one robs us of our most precious gift, our memories of those things we hold dear.

Today, seeing so many people affected by Alzheimer’s was a bit overwhelming. I walked to honor Grandpa Toots’ memory and, in a small way, let him know how much he was loved.

As a kid, I remember his great apple pies, his love of his grapevines out back, his crazy hair… But, the most vivid is the image of him sitting at his jewelry table, working intently on a watch. His hands steady, his magnifying glass around his head. He was a master jeweler. Today, I’ve never been more proud to wear my “Farnum” watch, crafted by my grandfather.

Grandpa Toots, we love you.

Grandpa Toots and Granny Mary at a jewelry show in 1982