Today’s Top Alzheimer’s News
ON THE LOSS OF OUR CO-FOUNDER TRISH VRADENBURG
UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Vice Chair Trish Vradenburg’s unflinching spirit – her creativity and imagination, quick-witted humor, empathy, generosity and her exceptional tenacity to stop the suffering of others – was captured in her every action. It is with immense sadness that UsAgainstAlzheimer’s announces her passing, and it is with the utmost gratitude that the organization cherishes her legacy and forges ahead in her memory. Read the full statement here.
LEAVING A MARK
“My mom always told me, you can’t pass through this world without doing something meaningful, without leaving a mark and this is the mark that I want to leave.” - Trish Vradenburg on her efforts to end Alzheimer’s
Tish Vradenburg's impact on the Alzheimer's movement has been far reaching and transformative and we are honoring her life and legacy by highlighting a few pieces that capture her fight and bodacious spirit. - The Alzheimer's Daily Team
A January 6, 2017 Washingtonian article profiled eleven locals whose commitment to helping others makes Washington a better place to live. Trish and George Vradenburg are waging a take-no-prisoners war against Alzheimer’s. “I’m doing it for that woman over there,” Trish says, pointing to a picture of her late mother, who was diagnosed 30 years ago. Says George, pointing to his wife: “I’m doing it for that woman over there.”
Trish Vradenburg penned a December 5, 2013 The Washington Post Magazine piece about her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s. “We have to start talking about Alzheimer’s. It’s ugly. It’s ugly for the victims. It’s ugly for the caretakers. In Japan, for the first time, they just sold more adult diapers than baby diapers! Do we really want that? I don’t want to change any more diapers. And the thought of my son changing mine? No. We have to get people to come out of the closet and demand research, money, a cure, a vaccination, anything!”
A June 4, 2012 Washingtonian article profiled Trish and George Vradenburg and their public fight against Alzheimer’s disease. “Watching her mother’s descent scared Trish. And watching it scare Trish—seeing her wonder every time she misplaced her keys or her cell phone—scared George. How many times can someone forget something until the problem isn’t just forgetfulness? George knows the disease isn’t just in Trish’s blood. It’s a constant presence in her thoughts and in her sleep. She dreams about her mother all the time.”
An April 9, 2012 The Washington Post article told the story of the founding of the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Network by Trish and George Vradenburg. It was their way to weave together all the small Alzheimer’s advocacy groups around the country and raise their effectiveness. Trish, whose mother died 20 years ago from Alzheimer’s, has confronted politicians in ways a traditional non-profit head cannot. “I have no shame,” she said. “My head can’t really ‘roll.’”