AJAs 2024 Finalists
My dad's hands: Then, now and dementia
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| Date Aired or Published | Jan. 3 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | Tri-County Vanguard |
| Name of Program: | My dad's hands: Then, now and dementia |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | Yarmouth NS |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Dear Judge, Please accept this entry entitled: 'My dad’s hands: Then, now and dementia' in the commentary category. I wrote this column as a means of describing to readers what it is like when your loved one has dementia. The month of January, in which the column ran, is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month in Canada. Dementia is a cruel disease. As it takes away the memories and abilities of the person who has dementia, their families are left to navigate through a disease that many call the long goodbye. Because it’s true. Over years, months and weeks – sometimes even days – you lose more and more of your loved one. It’s a mourning process that continues until the day they will eventually die. I was struck one day by something that happened between my dad and I that made me think of our lifetime together and how now it was forever changed, even though he is still with us. I’ve written other stories about dementia. Talked with other families. Talked with caregivers, talked with those in the Alzheimer’s Society, etc. But I thought in this column I could provide insight into what once was, what has been lost, and what will never be. I was taken aback by the response the column received from readers. In my 35 years of written, I have never before received so much feedback. Families, themselves going through dementia with their loved ones, sent emails thanking me for putting dementia into words, as they shared their own heartbreak and experiences with this disease. The emails kept filling up my inbox for two weeks after this column ran in print and online. It meant a lot to know that so many people resonated with it. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: |
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