My thoughts while I was attending the Alzheimer's Advocacy Forum

This is something that I journaled while I was attending the Alzheimer's Advocacy Forum this past week. On April 8, 2014, I was entering the ballroom for the National Alzheimer's dinner. On the way to find my assigned table, I saw a man leading a woman. She appeared to have dementia. Seeing this upset me because I’m so afraid of being like that woman one day! I found my table with other advocates from my state and my two friends. A short time later, I quietly had tears rolling down my face.

Then I went to the ladies’ room. This created another problem for me because in this ballroom, I was seated further away from the exit door that I was used to using over the past two days. I used an exit door near my table and I went to find a ladies’ room. Once I found it, I had to take a mental note and I talked in my head like this, “when I get out of the ladies’ room, take a left.” While I was in the ladies’ room, I quietly cried! This was the same ladies’ room I had previously used, but I had to go in a different door to find my table. After using the bathroom and walking around a little bit, I was able to enter the ballroom in the same general area that I had exited from. When I got back into the ballroom, I had trouble finding my table. The table should have had a sign in the middle of the table that read MA (because I was sitting with Massachusetts/New Hampshire advocates) but someone at the table took it down so they could see the stage better. Suddenly, I saw my friend with her hand up in the air, so I was able to find my table.

Earlier in the day, I had to ask someone where the elevator was so that I could return to my hotel room. This frustrates me and makes me sad! I will just need to learn to adjust, since I have no other choice. My two friends had already gone to their rooms.