“Alice. The sound of her name penetrated her every her every cell and seemed to scatter her molecules beyond the boundaries of her own skin. She watched herself from the far corner of the room.”
Until the words exited her doctors mouth, Alice always thought that Alzheimer's was something that only people over the age of 80 ended up with. The moment the words hit her she was in shock, unable to speak, unable to grasp the idea that she was no longer, in her mind, perfect. Alice, a professor at Harvard, had always been able to recite her lectures of the top of her head never forgetting a single detail. After hearing this news Alice is more frightened to tell others, worried that her reputation will be ruined for ever, that her hard work will go down the drain along with her memory. To Alice what people think of you is key, her students look up to her as a role model, and her colleagues see her as an inspiration for all her hard work. She is worried that image of herself that she has worked so hard creating, will just disappear as soon as people find out she has a disease. The one person Alice fears telling the most is her husband knowing that just like her he will be in shock. Alice however, fears that he may not accept this as the new reality or even worse leaves her to fend for herself. All of these thoughts run through Alice’s head at a thousand miles per hour, constantly looping back to her mind scaring her even more away from telling those around her about her situation.
“January nineteenth. Nothing good ever happened on that day.”
32 years ago to that day, Alice was faced with the devastating news that her mother and her sister both died in a devastating car accident. Alice never considered herself superstitious like her husband however she never did anything out of the ordinary on this day besides visiting their grave. That was until today when Alice decided that she had to go see a doctor about her memory problems. Seeing as Alice thought nothing was wrong with herself, that this was just simply a symptom of menopause, she believed that nothing could go wrong. That this simple doctors visit would just confirm her prior assumptions and that it was completely normal to be having these issues. Just as in the future however, this day brought nothing but bad news and Alice wanted to kick herself for not keeping with tradition. January nineteenth was the day Alice could no longer look at herself or the world the same. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and from now on nothing would ever be the same.
Alice is a very intelligent and prestigious professor at Harvard University. She is a strong believer that education is the key to open any door in which you’d like to enter. She does have a high opinion on those who do not go to university. Anyone who does not follow down the universal path of going to university and instantly finding a job they love, simply seems like a person with no passion and drive to Alice. Since she feels so strongly about the topic of education she could not see herself being anything other than an educator. Travelling all over the country to give lectures and inspire the minds of the next generation, Alice believes like she is making a difference. Alice sees herself working at Harvard until her memory is too weak to keep up with her course load, even if that means she has to be dragged out, Harvard is her second home. Even though Alice hardly drives, and walks to work every day, if she were to personalize her license plate that is what it would be, because she would want to broadcast her intentions to all of those who were impacted by her knowledge and wisdom.
Until the words exited her doctors mouth, Alice always thought that Alzheimer's was something that only people over the age of 80 ended up with. The moment the words hit her she was in shock, unable to speak, unable to grasp the idea that she was no longer, in her mind, perfect. Alice, a professor at Harvard, had always been able to recite her lectures of the top of her head never forgetting a single detail. After hearing this news Alice is more frightened to tell others, worried that her reputation will be ruined for ever, that her hard work will go down the drain along with her memory. To Alice what people think of you is key, her students look up to her as a role model, and her colleagues see her as an inspiration for all her hard work. She is worried that image of herself that she has worked so hard creating, will just disappear as soon as people find out she has a disease. The one person Alice fears telling the most is her husband knowing that just like her he will be in shock. Alice however, fears that he may not accept this as the new reality or even worse leaves her to fend for herself. All of these thoughts run through Alice’s head at a thousand miles per hour, constantly looping back to her mind scaring her even more away from telling those around her about her situation.
“January nineteenth. Nothing good ever happened on that day.”
32 years ago to that day, Alice was faced with the devastating news that her mother and her sister both died in a devastating car accident. Alice never considered herself superstitious like her husband however she never did anything out of the ordinary on this day besides visiting their grave. That was until today when Alice decided that she had to go see a doctor about her memory problems. Seeing as Alice thought nothing was wrong with herself, that this was just simply a symptom of menopause, she believed that nothing could go wrong. That this simple doctors visit would just confirm her prior assumptions and that it was completely normal to be having these issues. Just as in the future however, this day brought nothing but bad news and Alice wanted to kick herself for not keeping with tradition. January nineteenth was the day Alice could no longer look at herself or the world the same. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and from now on nothing would ever be the same.
Alice is a very intelligent and prestigious professor at Harvard University. She is a strong believer that education is the key to open any door in which you’d like to enter. She does have a high opinion on those who do not go to university. Anyone who does not follow down the universal path of going to university and instantly finding a job they love, simply seems like a person with no passion and drive to Alice. Since she feels so strongly about the topic of education she could not see herself being anything other than an educator. Travelling all over the country to give lectures and inspire the minds of the next generation, Alice believes like she is making a difference. Alice sees herself working at Harvard until her memory is too weak to keep up with her course load, even if that means she has to be dragged out, Harvard is her second home. Even though Alice hardly drives, and walks to work every day, if she were to personalize her license plate that is what it would be, because she would want to broadcast her intentions to all of those who were impacted by her knowledge and wisdom.
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