Stephanie Gross’ mother Paula was always the life of the party, the one who remembered everyone’s birthday and whipped up the most incredible meals. That all changed in 2019 when Paula was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As Paula's Alzheimer’s progressed, she maintained her unwavering spirit and never gave up. Her family learned new routines and cherished every moment together. Throughout, one thing remained constant for Stephanie—the idea that her family was not alone in this journey. Now, Stephanie and her family participate in Walk to End Alzheimer’s to honor her mom’s spirit. “We fight for every daughter who misses their mother's warm embrace and every son who yearns for a familiar conversation. We fight for a future free from Alzheimer's.” #MothersDay #Walk2EndAlz (fb)

Ahead of Mother’s Day weekend 💜, #ENDALZ Athlete and history-making swimmer Diana Nyad shares a cherished childhood memory that she revisited in a new way when her mother was living with Alzheimer’s: “My mom was French and one of the biggest, fondest and warmest memories of my whole life was her reading ‘Babar’ to me in French. Her accent was so melodious, so perfect. She would cuddle up with me at night and read me the stories of the little elephant who usually wore a green suit. I'll never forget it. It is a kernel of the sweetness of my life. In my mom's last couple of years, I took the very same books she read me as a child. We'd sit up against the backboard of her bed, and I'd open the book and tell her how I loved it when she read to me as a child. When I read the stories to her, she had that same magical reverie in her ears that I experienced hearing them when I was a young child. It was a circular connection we shared.” Read more of Diana’s story at bit.ly/445RZ4f, and share a cherished childhood book that you read with your mother in the comments below ⬇️ (fb)