Kate Dyer-Seeley  

It all comes down to today.  One game.  One chance at a national title.  If you had asked me during my tenure at the University of Oregon when we slogged through wet, win-less seasons, if this day would ever come, I likely would have answered, “doubtful.”  Sure maybe that made a doubter.  I prefer the [...]

It’s impossible to greet the end of one year and the start of another without a time of quiet reflection.  Mine comes tonight with a glass of wine, warm fire, the soft glow of Christmas lights, and the sound of Luke and his best buddy making use of all the loot that Santa left.   2010 brought [...]

Most of our important family discussions occur in the car while driving home from school.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve been blindsided by questions from the backseat, and nearly blindsided by cars as I swerve and try to pull my thoughts together before answering.  In a future post, I’ll [...]

November is National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month.  In partnership with The Oregonian, we (as in the Oregon Chapter) produced a special section that appears in today’s paper.  Working on the piece was equally exciting and challenging.  In fact, there were a few times last month when I thought we might never [...]

It can’t really be September can it?  Alas, the school buses bouncing along our street and sack lunches stacked on the counter say it must be so.  As does the reminder on my calendar screaming at me that Memory Walk is only a few weeks away.  Memory Walk is the largest fundraiser and public awareness [...]

I’ve been remiss in any writing updates as of late so here’s one big ol’ purge: First, the Vancouver Voice, where I write my column Couv’ Connections, is venturing into subscriptions.  Now instead of grabbing a copy of the Voice at your favorite coffee shop, it will arrive nicely bundled in your mailbox for a [...]

I’m just back from a whirlwind week in Washington at this year’s Alzheimer’s Action Summit.  The Summit broke an attendance record as over 600 of us stormed the Hill yesterday.  There’s so much to report, but frankly I’m jet-lagged and more than a little sleep deprived.  So, I’m off to nap, but in the short term I want to [...]

This summer we had the pleasure of hosting Max Larkin and Emily Boardway as they kicked off the first leg of their Spoke Your Mind bike tour across the country.  Max’s father has Young Onset Alzheimer’s.  As Max and his family (like mine and so many others) tried to navigate the legal system, deal with [...]

Luke couldn’t love school or Maestra Bainter more.  Spending five minutes in his classroom is jaw-dropping.  The entire class is rattling off Spanish phrases, rolling they’re “R’s” and laughing in delight when the wrong transition song is accidentally played (in Spanish of course).  This is the way we should all learn language.  It’s natural, innate.  [...]

(This picture is an oldie but goodie)While November is officially National Family Caregivers Month, the first few weeks of January have seen a surge in caregiver stories in the national media.  This incredible feature in the New York Times is a must read, especially coupled with news that came out late last week highlighting the fact [...]