Gigi.
Puerto Rican, 38, mother extraordinaire, with the most wonderful laugh and personality. I've always been mesmerized by the way her curls bounce as she walks but am most intrigued by her jolly personality.
She opened my studio door on a Friday morning and said: "Can you help me get this thing out of the van?" To my surprise she had single-handedly loaded a wonderfully old Singer sewing machine in the backseat. She said: "It's mom's." We laughed and struggled lugging it into my studio while loosing buttons, coins, and needles from its drawers.
As we talked about labeling she shared: "I used to be known as a soccer mom, partner, pastry chef, now I am seen as a caregiver." At 54, her mom was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's and for the last 13 years Gigi and her father have cared for her. Shown is the last quilt her mother made.
Gigi encountered many challenges since her mom was diagnosed at such a young age, however she never backed down. She has used this experience to help bring about change by advocating for The Younger-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Act, which passed in 2019, allowing individuals under the age of 60 to have access to critical services, support, and resources previously only available to people over 60. Currently, she is serving a one year term as an Alzheimer's Ambassador for the Alzheimer's Impact Movement and will be speaking at the 2020 Forum in Washington DC about her experience as a caregiver.
I am in awe of the strength she continues to show through so much adversity.
Puerto Rican, 38, mother extraordinaire, with the most wonderful laugh and personality. I've always been mesmerized by the way her curls bounce as she walks but am most intrigued by her jolly personality.
She opened my studio door on a Friday morning and said: "Can you help me get this thing out of the van?" To my surprise she had single-handedly loaded a wonderfully old Singer sewing machine in the backseat. She said: "It's mom's." We laughed and struggled lugging it into my studio while loosing buttons, coins, and needles from its drawers.
As we talked about labeling she shared: "I used to be known as a soccer mom, partner, pastry chef, now I am seen as a caregiver." At 54, her mom was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's and for the last 13 years Gigi and her father have cared for her. Shown is the last quilt her mother made.
Gigi encountered many challenges since her mom was diagnosed at such a young age, however she never backed down. She has used this experience to help bring about change by advocating for The Younger-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Act, which passed in 2019, allowing individuals under the age of 60 to have access to critical services, support, and resources previously only available to people over 60. Currently, she is serving a one year term as an Alzheimer's Ambassador for the Alzheimer's Impact Movement and will be speaking at the 2020 Forum in Washington DC about her experience as a caregiver.
I am in awe of the strength she continues to show through so much adversity.