Remembering why I'm running in the Brighton Marathon next Sunday

I've just completed my last long run before the Brighton Marathon next Sunday - this run was somewhere around 9 miles (the phone spontaneously rebooted half way round, so I don't know for sure).  I'm running with an achy knee and the after affects of a cold.  This is going to be a really tough run!

I was very close to my Nan, she was the one person with whom I could be completely myself when I was growing up.  She gave me so many precious gifts: time and her company and space to be myself – she was never well off and I realise that I never wanted money from her, just to spend time with her.  If I was unhappy, she was the one I ran away to.  She made Christmas complete.  I loved her absolutely.

She gradually got more and more scatty and irritable – that wasn’t like her: she had always been a very kind and patient woman, full of gratitude for her life.  When she was diagnosed with dementia, she was relieved: having a name for what was happening to her brought her some peace.

Over the period of the next ten years she gradually went from a vibrant, colourful woman full of spirituality and life to an empty shell, unable to recognise anyone except on certain rare and treasured occasions.  When she died, I realised that I had been in mourning for her for years and the main feeling was one of relief – that was horrible and I felt very guilty for that.  But her last words to me, only days before she died and after a long period of not speaking were “I love you”.  I am almost in tears now as I write this!  Such a wonderful gift at the last!

Soon after her diagnosis, she made plans for her funeral.  The event, when it came, was all about her and full of her style, elegance and personality.

I hope the Alzheimer’s Society can fund earlier diagnosis of dementia, so that those that have it and their families can make the most of the time they have left.  I hope that ways are found to slow the progress of the disease and maybe even so that it can be prevented, halted and possibly cured.

The thought occurs to me that the Brighton Marathon is the weekend after Mothering Sunday (in the UK); Nan was a member of the Mother’s Union and really enjoyed celebrating the day, which is an important event in the MU calendar.  My Nan’s church had received a bequest long ago, that daffodils would be provided on Mother’s Day for children to give to their parents – many of the children would also collect a bunch to give to my Nan.

I was very blessed to have a Nan like mine, and I know that she is still proud of me wherever she is now.

So I shall be dragging myself around twenty six and a bit miles by my bloody and broken fingernails if I have to!

Thank you to the massive amount of support I've received so far!  If you would like to support me, then I have a just giving page: www.justgiving.co.uk/andyskingsley.  ALD will double (up to £500) whatever I raise, so in total that's already nearly £800!