A Letter From A Friend

Anne,

Thank you for having the love, strength, and courage to write this blog post about Ken. It is powerful, devoted, and could be of great help to others whose husband/spouse/partner is afflicted with this terrible disease.

As Anne acknowledges, and I know, Ken was one of the best and brightest human geneticists and biological anthropologists of our generation. I began to recognize signs of memory loss at least a year or two before they moved from State College to Massachusetts but did not think much of it at the time, after all, we are both "of an age"; It quickly became apparent that it was more than the normal range of memory loss and Anne confirmed the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. We have observed the steady, rapid, and dramatic decline over our time together, we see Anne socially almost daily, and visit Ken at the memory care unit from time to time.

To observe this decline is heartbreaking for Anne, and heart wrenching for us. No more sitting around the table with Ken in the evening with a glass of wine, talking about travel or a wide range of other topics. No more diner breakfasts, no more hikes or bike rides. No more of Ken and I talking about evolution or biomedical research. He cannot even remember his profession.

There is nothing I can add here to what Anne has chronicled and candidly shared. I can only witness and affirm everything of which she has spoken and experienced. Ken looks the same but much older, somehow still manages his kind demeanor, but absolutely cannot function without 24-hour care and supervision. It is so hard to mourn the loss of a dear friend when that friend is still living.

Alan Swedlund