My shoulder continues to be a pain - literally a pain - but the physical therapy has helped me get more range of motion. Eric is my physical therapist and he makes the treatments as enjoyable as he can. I'm so thankful their office is in San Ramon. Icing it at night really helps and I'm hoping that some day I will be able to raise my left arm above my head again!
Bob and I had a wonderful day in Sacramento earlier this month. It was the Alzheimer's Association Advocacy Day! Thankfully we were able to drive up the night before and enjoyed a nice dinner near the hotel. The event started around 9am and if we would have driven from our house in the morning it would have been a very early wake up. I don't do well when I don't get enough sleep and Bob knows that so he kindly always gets us a room the night before for these early events.
There were over 250 people at the event and we saw many of our dear friends from around the State. Bob's college buddy and my friend Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, along with Assembly Member Monique Limon introduced Assembly Bill 2047, and Assembly Bill 2048.These two bills would promote greater awareness and earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's and dementia! We were so happy to be there for them, to thank them for their support and to spend some quality time with Cecilia and other advocates from around the state.
Two days later we were on our way to Reno to help celebrate our grandson Benjamin's 3rd birthday! We decided to fly this time and that was definitely a good choice. The flight time from Oakland was only 29 minutes! Our visit was short but fun and we always love spending time with family. I was able to rest during the day which is something I do most days no matter where I am.
The following week we spent the night in San Francisco so we could attend another meeting with the Governor's Task Force. Former Secretary of State George Schultz was there along with many volunteers and some of the other task force members. I met Dr. Dean Ornish who works at UCSF. He has a practice that focuses on Alzheimer's disease. I think his plan includes lifestyle, eating well and exercise programs. When they contacted me to make an appointment they told me that I would need to be at UCSF three times a week! That is definitely not something I could do, nor do I want to do that. I'm sure his protocol is helpful but I feel good most days and am continuing to live well, eat well and surround myself with people who lift me up.
Later in the month I had lunch with one of my high school buddies and we laughed and laughed and had a great time! I always enjoy my lunch dates. I have another high school friend coming to visit this Friday! Yeah, two lunch dates in the same month. Lucky meπ
Saturday I had an amazing and uplifting time at Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour in San Francisco at the Chase Center. Kristen and I went together and it was so inspiring, uplifting, emotional and FUN. We meditated, we danced and we wrote our intentions in our workbooks. We made a commitment to maintain a balanced lifestyle and to share our commitments with others so we could be accountable.
I had no idea what to expect at this event. I was just thrilled to be in the same space with Oprah! Little did we know that we were only 8 rows back from the stage. She was literally standing right in front of us! There were over 15,000 people there and it was fabulous to feel the love and feel the energy in the room. She reminded us that even during the greatest storms in our life, all is well, we are well. And she challenged us to be powerful beyond measure! There were so many great nuggets. There were tears and profound feelings of joy. Being there with Kristen made it special and so personal and we both walked away filled up and looking forward to making changes in our life and in our behaviors. I really liked this quote "You are here. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. Live in the moment and enjoy what you haveπ"
This February has been amazing so far and even though I've had plenty of days that are pretty boring, I still make the most of them. I hope all of you had a good month too. And that you enjoyed your Valentine's Day and time with your family. This week I am looking forward to an event in San Carlos with my dear Alzheimer's Assoc buddy, Claire Day! We will doing a 'fire side chat' event at a pharma company who is working on research for AD. I can't wait to see Claire and to share my story with them. And to thank them for their research in helping us to find a cure. I will let you know how it went in my next blog π
Enjoy your day, enjoy your family, friends and work colleagues. Life is short and I hope every day you find joy and peace and love within yourself!
Thank you for all your prayers and support. I started my 2020 Alzheimer's Walk page but will be asking for donations as the year progresses. With your help maybe I can beat my 2019 individual fundraising number of $21,640π°
God bless you all! I hope you have a great week and can avoid all the negative noise about our upcoming election....