Maria Shriver

September 22, 2011

Alzheimer's and Caregiving

Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease: I'm Acting Like My Mom

By Angie Clarkson

“Cholesterol, schmelesterol,” I text my cousin in my normal blow-it-off attitude. The doctor’s office called, and the blood work they did showed elevated levels of cholesterol for the second year in a row. They tell me to make an appointment with my general doctor.

“OK,” I say not-so-convincingly. Then the general doctor’s office calls. The darn nurse called and told on me. But I don’t answer. I let them leave me a message, “Call and make an appointment. The doctor wants to go over these results with you.”

Yes, I know. They want to put me on cholesterol medication, but maybe it’s my rebellious nature or my control issues or maybe denial, but I don’t want to go on medication! I want to fix it myself – diet and exercise, like I said a year ago.

Then, like a ton of fatty bricks, it hits me. I’m acting like my mom.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 21, 2011

Alzheimer's and Caregiving

A Loveletter to Caregivers

By Leeza Gibbons

This is a love letter to all the heroes out there. The ones who should be getting parades in their honor, monuments to their glory and applause everywhere they go. They are the caregivers for someone they love with memory loss, and I can promise you that not one of them is living a life of their choosing. Somehow, someway, everything else in their lives becomes subordinate to Alzheimer’s disease.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 21, 2011

Alzheimer's and Caregiving

Five Tips for Becoming an Alzheimer's Champion

By Sara Allen Abbott

Sadly, I grew up around Alzheimer’s. In 1981, my paternal grandmother was diagnosed with the disease. My dad, her only child, and my mother had an addition built on our home so that they could care for her and my grandfather. Gradually, she forgot our names. She forgot her name. She forgot how to swallow. She forgot everything. For 11 years, we watched her wither away. I learned at a very early age this horrible disease impacts more than just the person diagnosed. So, when we learned my dad had younger-onset Alzheimer’s in 2003 at the age of 63, I was devastated. We all knew what was coming. The horrible history we witnessed first-hand with his mother was going to repeat itself with my father. And there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 21, 2011

Quick Take

Katherine Schwarzenegger

1. Now that summer is over, what's the one thing you're looking forward to getting back to?
Stable routine and starting the last year of my college life! So exciting!!

2. What are your three words to live by?
Live, laugh and love.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 20, 2011

In the News

Maria Shriver Interviews Philanthropist Wallis Annenberg for Los Angeles Magazine's Special "L.A. Woman" Issue

By MariaShriver.com

This year, Maria Shriver has embarked on an ongoing series of interviews with remarkable women -- legendary Architects of Change. Earlier in the year, Maria interviewed poet Mary Oliver for the special poetry issue of O magazine that she guest edited. And this summer, she interviewed journalist and activist Gloria Steinem for Interview magazine.

Continuing this conversation series, Maria recently sat down with Wallis Annenberg for a conversation to be featured in the first-ever "L.A. Woman" issue of Los Angeles magazine, a multi-faceted 49-page package that is on newsstands now.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 20, 2011

Tips for Transformation

A Governor’s Spouse’s Story: 6 Lessons in Love and Learning from a Dual Career Guy

By Daniel Granholm Mulhern

In 1985 during my second year of law school, I met a breathtaking woman named Jennifer Granholm and doggedly pursued a first date at which she steered our conversation into surprisingly deep waters, bombarding me with question about children, politics and my life’s goals. She had more career drive than any woman I’d ever met, yet she was equally comfortable with my own oversized goals including my dream of running for governor.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 19, 2011

Tips for Transformation

Seeking a Silver Lining in Dementia Care

By Scott Eckstein

Alzheimer's and other dementias are cruel. It has been called the "Long Good-bye", and Maria Shriver has also coined it the "New Hello" for a reason.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 18, 2011

Alzheimer's and Caregiving

Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease: The Gifts of Simple Gestures

By Karen Henley

Alzheimer’s Disease is devastating, overwhelming, exhausting - it can deplete the family/caregiver of everything. It’s not easy. With all that we have lost as a family, we’ve still had the opportunity to feel fortunate, humbled and even blessed. My children have had the opportunity to experience one of life’s most basic gifts: kindness. For the past 10 years, we have endured the unthinkable. My children are now 18 & 20 and they have experienced more sadness and loss than most adults will experience in their lifetimes. Yet at the same time, they’ve also experienced some wonderful gifts.

Read Full Post | Comments

September 16, 2011

In the News

Project360 and Threads for Thought Team Up to Help Make Alzheimer’s A Memory

By Leigh Fleet

As one of the founders of Threads for Thought, a company whose core mission is to be sustainable and do good, I am always excited when Threads for

Read Full Post | Comments

September 16, 2011

Creative Experts

5 Simple Ways to Make Over Your Life (Before Holiday Craziness Sets In)

By Valerie Latona

I don’t know about you, but every September I start to feel that unmistakable chill in the air that signals the onset of fall and I start organizing -- my inbox, my closets, my life, my day-to-day schedules. Unlike any other change in seasons, the switch from summer to fall brings a sense, at least for me, of anticipation and relief at getting back to some sort of routine.

I’d be lying, though, if I didn’t tell you that part of me is sad to say good-bye to the long, carefree, and relaxing, days of summer. But the other half of me is looking forward to getting back to a sense of structure in my days. This feeling probably dates back to being in school, when the slight temperature drop meant heading back to the classroom.

Read Full Post | Comments