Remembering Sargent Shriver
R. Sargent Shriver: Still and ALWAYS Inspiring!
Betty’s Love grieves with his family, celebrates his life, and is inspired by R. Sargent Shriver. Mr. Shriver’s work to inspire young people, change lives, and change the world – especially founding, with Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics – informs and inspires Betty’s Love – still and always – and our founder.
Betty’s Love helps families living with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and cognitive impairment – including Down syndrome – find support they need, get information they deserve, and take action to boost and sustain Mom’s cognition and ensure Dad and the whole family find Joy every day.
All of us in Betty’s Love celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Shriver – now dancing in Paradise – still and always in the very present tense. To read more about Betty’s Love and Down syndrome, please click here. To read our founder’s thoughts on Sargent Shriver’s passing, please scroll down….
We in Betty’s Love grieve with his family, celebrate his life, and are inspired by (still and always) R. Sargent Shriver. His work to inspire young people (e.g., founding the Peace Corps), to change lives (e.g., in fighting the first ‘War on Poverty’ in our own country), and to change the world (with Eunice Kennedy Shriver in the grassroots movement that is The Special Olympics) informs and inspires Betty’s Love – still and always. This week, Mr. Shriver also inspired Betty’s Love’s founder to take pen in hand….
A Letter to the Editors of The New York Times
Early reports Tuesday were that R. Sargent Shriver was admitted to hospital in Bethesda, Maryland; no other information was reported. However, then, and in reports upon his passing, photos were included – of Mr. Shriver looking ‘lost’ at Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s funeral or in another equally dispirited state.
Please, let’s stop the gloom and doom!
Yes, 5.1 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) – and that’s only one form of dementia. Yes, another American joins them every 68 seconds – and an Alzheimer’s tsunami is coming as baby boomers begin to turn 65. And, yes, 105 years into studying AD and despite billions raised for research, still there is: no known cause(s); no definitive diagnosis; no sustainable treatment; no cure.
Even WORSE: “Alzheimer’s” is still a whispered word, a stigmatized condition, a fear-mongering disease. Fifty-two families every hour, upon hearing a ‘diagnosis’ of Alzheimer’s disease, still think two things: “There is nothing we can do. Life is over.”
Why? In great part, perhaps, because the message (by virtually all outlets, including at times NYT’s news divisions) is gloom, doom, and what’s ‘gone missing’ in Mom or Dad.
Gloom and doom are so NOT necessarily so! There’s so much we CAN do to boost and sustain cognition – and so much JOY families can find every day. [Betty’s Love is proving that every day.*]
In reporting (as you inevitably will) on the passing of R. Sargent Shriver, please set a new standard for reporting on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Replace the gloom-and-doom photos with those that depict him as he founded the Peace Corps, ran the Merchandise Mart, and helped Eunice Kennedy Shriver change the world with Special Olympics. [And help Betty’s Love – the only Alzheimer’s charity helping families living with Down syndrome prepare for the virtual inevitability of living with Alzheimer’s disease.]
There is always so much more that REMAINS of Mom than is lost; Uncle Charles IS himself – in there somewhere; even in his ‘lost’ days, Sargent Shriver DID COMPREHEND what was said and written (and what he would see in said sorry photos) and he IS his children’s Dad – in the very present tense.*
Please shine The New York Times’ considerable light on all we CAN do and all the JOY that can be found every day. Help us help more families thrive despite Alzheimer’s, dementia, and cognitive impairment. [Heck, please just help Betty’s Love help people learn the differences between the three!]
Be sure to nourish your brain today – and to Care-with-Love™ for yourselves every day. Think walnuts, pomegranates, and dark chocolate!
*Self funded, as one person, and one family at a time – now numbering more than 500 in person and thousands more on line – Betty’s Love is proving every day – with families just like the Shrivers, just like yours – our unique, transformational message:
There’s so much families CAN do to boost cognition, connections, and quality of Life and so much JOY we find every day!
Despite names, positions, status, or wealth, every 68 seconds, another family begins the journey of ‘losing’ a parent, a husband, daughter, a neighbor, a mentor, a friend. Thank you for keeping the Shriver Family – and all Betty’s Love Families worldwide – in your positive thoughts and prayers. Know they, your families, and your readers’ families are already in ours.
For NYT readers who would like to help us change the world: Please join our grassroots movement and support Betty’s Love. We are the only Alzheimer’s charity only helping families. Helping Betty’s Love, they’ll help those families like yours find Hope and Joy and Love in all that remains, every day. And we prove with families just the Shrivers – and as we promise all Betty’s Love Families: It’s a lot!
P.S. – Like Joe & Betty Gavin, I absolutely believe Sargent & Eunice Kennedy Shriver are now dancing in Paradise. God IS good. Joy IS realized. Amen!
Maureen M Gavan,
fortunate, grateful, and proud daughter of Joe and of Betty, who battled Alzheimer’s disease for more than 25 years with Grace and courage –
and, always, did ordinary things with extraordinary Love
Founder, C.L.O., and Executive Director
Betty’s Love Alzheimer’s Charities
708-420-LOVE (-5683)
Please join the grassroots movement of JOY that is Betty’s Love – and the only FAMILY-focused Alzheimer’s charity – today!
Exclusive to The New York Times. Copyright January 19, 2011. All rights, all properties protected.