Nicole Rutishauser

As many of you know, Alzheimer’s disease is something close to my family. Sadly, we lost my grandmother who passed from a long battle against Alzheimer’s in September of 2015. As she suffered for almost ten years, watching the disease progress was undeniably hard on my family, especially my father.

My grandmother enjoyed everything life had to offer. As she was a loved and respected English teacher in Minnesota, she also became defined by her devotion to volunteer activities. She was a member of the Guthrie Theatre Guild in Minneapolis, trustee of the Austin Lyric Opera for twenty-five years, volunteer at Reading is Fundamental, teacher in the First Presbyterian Church’s program for adults with disabilities, and founding member of SAGE, a lifelong learning program at University of Texas. After retiring, my grandmother and grandfather enjoyed everything the world had to offer, traveling from Europe and South America to Australia and China. Her love for education, volunteering, and travel inspired those around her. To watch the disease progress was undeniably heartbreaking and difficult.

Now, in honor of my grandmother and everyone else afflicted by Alzheimer’s, I will be running in the SHAPE Women’s Half-Marathon on April 30, 2017. This run symbolizes the huge challenge of curing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Of course, there are many worthy charities, but I found the approach of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund inspiring. The organization funds research with the highest probability of preventing, slowing, or reversing Alzheimer’s disease.

Please consider donating! All donations go toward the organization and are inspiring during my training. Each donation goes toward this worthy cause in the hopes of finding advanced treatments, and one day, a cure. Thanks so much!

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