Charity Crop - Cutting Out Alzheimers - April 17th 2010

I am so grateful to have met Tina and to have been able to support this crop.  Many, many years ago, the path of the Pescadore family and of mine crossed. I had a little girl crush, that's what you have when you are 5-6 years old, on the daddy, who in my mind will always be, Monsieur Pescadore. His wife, who for some reason was always Carmen, I found to be loving and wonderful too. They had a little girl, Elisa born on the same day and in the same hospital as the eldest of my younger brothers, Richard.

In an ironic twist of fate, Elisa went to Europe and decided to go and visit with my mom and brothers, who were then living in the south of France. Elisa and Richard fell in love and, as they say, the rest is history.  Elisa moved to Europe, and eventually, she and Richard returned to Quebec City, where they were married and had two beautiful children, my niece and nephew.

Like all of the baby boomer families, our two families eventually got into the position of losing our parents. While losing our dad to colon cancer was not an easy thing, Elisa and her sisters, went through a much more difficult time when their mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers. They lost their mother, one memory at a time, one ability at a time, until they had no choice but to find new living arrangements that would protect her, and those around her. It has not been easy on Elisa or her sisters and I hope that now that their mom is finally at peace, they will remember all the good times they shared! 

All that to say that I attended and gave to this charity crop in honor of a wonderful woman and mother, Carmen Pescadore.

May she rest in peace and may she help to rekindle the profound love that united her daughters.