Wednesday, September 07, 2005
THESE ARE THE GOLDEN years for Analee and Del Jay Kinney.
Living out their retirement in one of the cottage homes on the campus at Otterbein Retirement Living Community, the Kinneys, both 82, enjoy an active social life with their fellow residents.
For exercise, Del walks the campus’ mile-long Circle Drive. Analee has taken up weaving again, relearning the craft at a class at Otterbein.
The pair turns out a newsletter every so often to keep distant family members up-to-date on the happenings in each other’s lives.
Three mornings a week, they visit Countryside YMCA to exercise in the warm waters of the facility’s senior pool.
For the Kinneys, life in general has been good.
Last February, the Kinneys learned that Del is among the estimated 40,000 in the greater Cincinnati area with Alzheimer’s disease.
“My memory got worse and worse,” Del said, which prompted a visit in February to a neurologist. Del also was experiencing difficulty in taking care of the couple’s checking account.
“That was sort of a hard thing for Del to have to give up,” said Analee.
A progressive condition in which nerve cells degenerate in the brain and brain substance shrinks, Alzheimer’s disease is the single most common cause of dementia. Its cause is unknown and there is no cure.
In a way, Del’s diagnosis proved to be somewhat of a relief for the couple.
“We had a better idea what this was,” Analee explained, referring to the memory lapses that had begun to plague Del.
“I’m learning how to be patient,” she said, admitting that can be difficult feat for her at times. “When you don’t have a memory, you repeat things a million times.”
“She does a marvelous job,” Del offered. “I had the good fortune to have a wife who swung with whatever came her way. We’ve done well.”
Parents to three and grandparents to four, the Kinneys will celebrate 60 years of marriage in December, first meeting while both were students at the former Milwaukee State Teachers College. They married in 1945 after Del returned home from his tour of duty in World War II’s European theater.
The Kinneys relocated to Lebanon 10 years ago after Del retired as a professor of social work at the George Williams College in Aurora, Ill.
Analee is encouraging of her husband’s acceptance of the disease.
“I’m really proud of how he has accepted this. So far he has been very accepting in being able to handle it quite well,” she said.
“We try to take one day at a time and think about the good things that happen each day.”
Analee attends a support group for the caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients that meets the first Thursday of the month at Otterbein.
She and Del also plan to attend an upcoming eight-week class for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers. Known as the early stage strategy group, the class is designed to help those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers learn more about the disease as well as offer support, said Bernie Sanders, manager of the Butler/Warren County branch of the Alzheimer’s Association of Cincinnati.
“The more they know about this disease and the more involved they get with the education and support, the easier it is to manage,” said Sanders. “All these things help and one day there will be a cure, hopefully.”
“Bernie has been wonderful,” Analee said.
It’s why the Kinneys sent a check to the association for its signature fund-raiser, the Butler/Warren Counties Memory Walk, which is scheduled for this Saturday at the Wetherington Golf & Country Club in West Chester Twp. Registration begins at 9 a.m. with the walk starting at 10 a.m.
Since 1989, Memory Walk, which takes place in more that 600 communities, has raised more than $175 million and is the largest national fund-raising event for Alzheimer’s disease.
Otterbein is fielding a team — the Merry Memories — consisting of 25 staff members and residents, each sporting brightly colored shirts reminiscent of M&Ms candies.
To raise funds and promote awareness of Saturday’s Memory walk, Otterbein also staged monthly events including an ice cream social and doughnut and coffee sale.
“We try to make it fun,” said Brenda Lovich, marketing coordinator at Otterbein. “It brings everybody together.”
Last year, more than 400 took part in the Memory Walk at Wetherington, raising nearly $4,000 for chapter services in Butler and Warren counties.
“Alzheimer’s disease touches hundreds of people in Butler and Warren counties. Memory Walk is a way for the community to come together in support of these families and the services and programs we provide,” said Meghan Galvin, Memory Walk coordinator with the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati. “Memory Walk is proof positive that small steps can go a long way in fighting Alzheimer’s disease.”
The Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati serves 27 counties in southwest Ohio, southeastern Indiana and northern Kentucky where an estimated 40,000 people have Alzheimer’s disease.
Last year, 3,800 participated in the chapter’s 12 area Memory Walks, raising a record $305,000 to support the chapter’s local programs and services and to fund national research on Alzheimer’s disease.
Contact Sharon Smigielski at (513) 696-4524 or ssmigielski@coxohio.com
