Baylee+G’s+Final+AmEx+2014+Speech

=Title of Speech= "Lost"

=Text of Speech=

When I was a little girl, I would always look forward to going to my grandparent's house every week. They showered me with unconditional love (and candy) and I was constantly smiling the whole time I was there. I was always glued to my papa's side, whether it was sitting on his lap in his big recliner chair as he watched old movies on the Western Channel, or sitting next to him while he gardened for hours upon hours. I was so lucky to have had that precious time with him, and I will always cherish those memories we had together. Unfortunately, that's all I have left with my papa. Memories. About two years ago, my papa started to forget little things here and there. He would repeat stories he had just told an hour before, or ask when dinner would be ready when we had already eaten. In just a few months, those "little things" turned into forgetting how to take his pills because he didn't remember how to drink a glass of water. Six months ago he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and he's been forgetting things at a ridiculously fast pace since then.

My papa and Grammy just celebrated their 61st anniversary together. Now, my papa doesn't know who she is. He knows he should remember her, he just can't. My Grammy has spent her entire life caring for my papa, and now that his mind is gone it's almost like she's lost her husband. He's alive, but he's like a vegetable. It's absolutely heartbreaking to my family, just how fast someone's mind can deteriorate like that. He used to call me his little "chickadee", and now he just smiles at me because he doesn't remember my name. My papa now resides in a nursing home, because my Grammy could no longer take care of him by herself. She couldn't leave the house for more than an hour at a time, in fear of what my papa may do while she was gone. Luckily, he would mainly just sit in his recliner chair, staring blankly at the TV screen until she came home. I'm happy that my papa is getting good care, but what saddens me is the fact that he will never go home again. He will die in that nursing home. After about 10 days of being away from their home, Alzheimer's patients will forget absolutely everything about their home, including the people in it. So he must stay in the nursing home for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. There are a handful of pills that will help to slow the process, but that's all they have available for the time being. Most illnesses attack the body, but Alzheimer's destroys the mind-and in the process, annihilates the very self. In the America that I wish to grow old in, I hope that no family members ever turn into strangers. In the America that I wish to grow old in, I hope nobody has to go through the pain and heartbreak of a loved one forgetting who they are. In the America that I wish to grow old in, I want to see a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

"People think it's just forgetting your keys. Or the words for things. But there are the personality changes. The mood swings. The hostility and even violence. Even from the gentlest person in the world. You lose the person you love. And you are left with the shell... And you are expected to go on loving them even when they are no longer there. It’s not that other people expect it. It’s that you expect it of yourself. And you long for it to be over soon."

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