If someone asked you about your family history, would you know how your great-grandparents met or what life was like for them growing up?
Christopher Cummings’ mom was diagnosed with early-onset dementia when she was 48. He saw firsthand how a family member’s memories can slip away and impact families.
“My mom struggled with multiple sclerosis for many years before the dementia started,” says Cummings. “I took on the role of caregiver to her at a very early age. When she passed away in 2012, even though I spent endless hours with her, I realized there was so much I didn’t know but wanted to know about my mom, yet it was too late.”
While visiting his grandmother, Shirley, Cummings asked how her parents, his great-grandparents, had fallen in love. She had no idea, which seemed odd since she knew all the family history.
“That question caused her to call her sister to see if she knew the answer,” Cummings says. “She did not. Grandmother went on to ask her brother, who did know.