To the Editor:

October 1, 2024

As a teenager whose grandmother had lived with and later died from Alzheimer’s Disease – albeit before the public had a name for it – I remember that love required my family to take her car keys away before she got hurt – for starters. I later watched as my uncle and my dad, both of whom had lived public lives, were also diagnosed and eventually died the same way.
I began to recognize this horror as other family members began to manifest symptoms. I knew when one of my loved one’s time on this planet was drawing to a close - years in advance. I saw as other families had to make hard decisions. I eventually took a class offered by the Ventura County Ombudsman’s office and then watched videos to learn more.

These things helped me prepare my mother. As Dad’s full-time R.N. and caregiver, taking care of him was beyond demanding. Dad began taking miles-long walks without being willing to put on a jacket even in the worst of Ohio winters. The police couldn’t keep up with Dad, and they told us they hoped to be like him when they got older. All too soon, and way too late, however, they insisted that he had to be hospitalized: They couldn’t keep looking for him and bringing him home. That very day, when dad was taken away, Mom’s handwriting changed for the worse. She had held on in this capacity for so many years.
Then, Dad escaped from all three memory care facilities in which he lived. The first two both had to refer him to another home- each better suited to his condition. One time, Dad walked onto a busy six-lane thoroughfare. Thankfully, a dear family friend found him and was able to safely help him get into his car and back where he belonged.

Please understand, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone or his/her family. All this being the case, over four years ago, I was more than alarmed when Joe Biden ran for President. I saw what was coming. Certainly, he had more help than others tend to have. Frankly, his dogs knew something was wrong; and if they didn’t, well, the Secret Service members who were bitten did. The Vice President can’t be that vacuous.

When I expressed what I saw then, many people thought I was being political. Seriously, after the first Presidential debate this year, I had a hard time believing that anyone could still act as if they didn’t know. I knew that issues were far from being resolved and could not be fixed even if someone could replace him in an occasional Cabinet meeting. The lost and messed up paperwork, for one thing, could have created quite a mountain – even with a shredder. There was no way anyone who loved him should have been allowed to try to cover for him – for the President’s own sake - even if not for the country. Mr. Biden had no business holding the keys to the world’s most powerful nation - when many people didn’t know the truth. But now that everybody knows, and the 25th Amendment was tossed like paper wrapped around leftover fish, we have much bigger fish to fry.

Respectfully,

Stephenie Thomas
Fillmore, CA