Trish Vradenburg

Biography: I'm a playwright, author, television writer, and Alzheimer’s disease advocate. My husband George and I founded UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, with the goal of finding a cure or treatment for Alzheimer’s by the year 2020. I post here on the AARP blog every other Thursday.

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Trish Vradenburg 'sPosts

Why is fighting Alzheimer’s important? Exclusive Q&A with George Vradenburg

Posted on 10/13/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthEvery other Thursday, we have Trish Vradenburg as our special guest blogger covering Alzheimer’s issues. Trish is a playwright, author, television writer, and Alzheimer’s disease advocate. She and her husband, George, founded UsAgainstAlzheimer’s with the goal of finding a cure or treatment for Alzheimer’s by the year 2020. She brings her legendary humor and wit to the devastating realities of Alzheimer’s, and we’re excited to have her share with us here. Earlier this month, George Vradenburg participated in his first …

Memory, Reality

Posted on 09/29/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthThis college essay for admission to Cornell University was written by my daughter, Alissa, at the age of 17. Memory: The music blares. The lights come up. Two figures appear on the state. The audience erupts into thunderous applause. The act begins. Five, six, seven, eight… Some of the greatest footwork ever seen. Absolutely unbelievable. What talent. To the crowd’s dismay, the performance is over all too soon. Reality: The stage – an old cardboard box dug out from the …

His Nana

Posted on 09/15/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthYou know how one of your kids surprises you — in a pleasant sort of way? And it gives you a warm smile inside for days, years… okay, decades. Growing up, my son, Tyler, was a typical boy. Classically non-verbal, on top of his emotions, not a kid who enjoyed having his mom kiss him goodbye and yell out, “I love you, baby,” as he was exiting carpool. Go figure. Not a big conversationalist: one year he said, “Yup”; the next …

Living to 100

Posted on 09/1/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthWould you like to live to 100? Take Dr. Perls’ test. www.livingto100.com. Simple and revealing; my results show that I am going to live until 101-years-old. Well, congrats to me. I am almost middle-aged again. My husband is going to live to 98. So we’ll have a big party to celebrate when I’m 93 and he’s 97. What to wear, what to wear? I bet I’ll have a dozen great grandchildren and I’ll know every name and every birthday and… …

Football Moms Unite!

Posted on 08/18/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthI went to every football game my son played in. That wasn’t easy since Tyler played all through high school. I drove Tyler home after every game. Not a pretty experience if his team lost or he thought he made a stupid play even if they did win. Silence the whole ride home. One time, mid-week, my husband showed up at a game. Tyler thanked him profusely. On the way home I said to him, “Honey, I come to every …

Death Takes a Holiday

Posted on 08/4/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthGreat news – no one died today from Alzheimer’s… or yesterday… or this whole week… or even the whole month. In fact, Alzheimer’s must have been cured. At least, that is what you would think if you were an obit reader. I’m one of those. I learned it from my Dad. He used to say that every morning he would wake up and look at the newspaper obits. If his name wasn’t there, he’d go to work. But each day …