My Uncle Jonny and me

My Uncle Jonny and me
My name is Sammi and I’m 12 years old. Four years ago at the age of 54 my Uncle Jonny was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. It has come to a point now where he can barely speak and doesn’t even recognize me, let alone have any memories of our time together.

For my Bat-Mitzvah I'm trying to gain awareness for Alzheimer’s and get 1,800 people to think about my Uncle Jonny because he can’t think for himself. I call it Save the Memory. It’s too late to save my Uncle Jonny’s memory, but by donating to Alzheimer’s research with hope we can save the memory of others.

To help save the memory please donate to Hebrew University's Alzheimer's research

To help save the memory please donate to Hebrew University's Alzheimer's research
Please click the above logo to make a donation. In the Honoree Information section type Sammi’s Bat-Mitzvah in the first name box. This will ensure that your donation will go towards Alzheimer’s research. For the Honoree email please type sammiobatmitzvah@gmail.com. Thank you for your generosity.

For Canadian Donations

For Canadian Donations
Please click the above logo to make a donation in Canadian funds. Click Fund and in the box to the right select the option titled Sammi’s Bat-Mitzvah Alzheimer’s Research Fund. This will ensure that your donation will go towards Alzheimer’s research. Thank you for your generosity.

Hebrew University on the forefront of Alzheimer's Research

Hebrew University on the forefront of Alzheimer's Research
Jerusalem, July 20, 2009 – Research carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has resulted in a promising approach to help treat Alzheimer’s disease in a significant proportion of the population that suffers from a particularly rapid development of this disease. In the research at the Silberman Institute of Life Sciences of the Hebrew University, scientists solved a mystery as to why people who carried a mutated gene known as BChE-K were prone to more rapid development of Alzheimer’s than those who had a normal version of the gene. This mutation appears in about 20 percent of the American and Israeli populations. Indeed, these carriers tend to develop the disease later than others, but when that happens, it progresses more rapidly and does not respond to medication. Therefore, the bottom line is that carriers of the mutated gene have a greater risk than others for disease progression. The reason for this anomalous situation has been a puzzle for a long time, but the studies by the Hebrew University scientists solved it by finding the explanation for this increased risk, thereby offering as well a possible new therapeutic solution.

Save a memory of someone you love

Save a memory of someone you love
Uncle Jonny showed me what music really could be
I remember summer 2008 when I spent a week in Manistee, MI with Uncle Jonny. Although being with my family made it an amazing week, watching Uncle Jonny struggle to put on his jacket and not be able to figure out how to eat a chicken finger really got to me. Seeing Uncle Jonny like this made me think where did he go? That’s not my Uncle Jonny in there. He almost felt like a different person. But then we put an African drum in his hand and like magic he was my Uncle Jonny all over again. I could sit on that deck singing Under the Boardwalk with him forever. When he sang, it was like I could see right through his sickness and see my Uncle Jonny like he used to be. It was those moments when the sun blazed down on us that I didn’t think about the fact that he didn’t remember my name, but that he remembered the lyrics to every song we sang. That was Uncle Jonny. That’s who he was and who he is. The musician.
1 comments
Uncle Jonny showed me music is more than just a melody. Music is the way some one feels and the way someone can live even if they’re sick. I remember going to Ann Arbor when I was very young and sitting with Uncle Jonny as he played the piano. I remember sitting on the piano bench next to him watching his fingers fly across the keyboard. He would never play with sheet music, just the music inside of him flying out of his fingertips. I remember staring at his hands and when he stopped he would always say, “only the white keys, those are the beautiful ones.” He then told me to play and when I didn’t want to because I was shy and didn’t play the piano well he said, “you can never play a wrong note on this piano.” As the years went on and I got older and older I would watch him play and every time I’d try to see if he played a black key and he didn’t, and of course he never played a wrong note.
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