Barry Petersen has reported from numerous battlefields over the course of his 30-plus years as a CBS News correspondent. Somalia. Rwanda. Afghanistan. Iraq. And, most recently, Libya.
He shared stories of tragedy and heartache with viewers; none of them, though, as personal and as deeply felt as having his beloved wife, Jan, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when she was just 55 years old.
“It’s the war that cannot be won,” Petersen observed as he gave an emotional account of the “love lost to the long goodbye of Alzheimer’s” at Memories Lost & Found. Jan, a former TV newswoman herself, happily accompanied her husband to his various postings. Today, she resides in an assisted-living center and speaks to him as if she is meeting him for the first time.
“You think it’ll get easier, but it never does,” he said.
Memories Lost & Found is the signature fundraiser for AWARE, a guild supporting Colorado chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. It was chaired by Jerilyn Bensard and Kathy Klugman and netted $286,000. Annabel Bowlen was the honorary chair and the Denver Broncos Football Club was a presenting sponsor.
The association’s national leader, Harry Johns, did provide a ray of hope to the audience of 600, many of whom have family members suffering from Alzheimer’s.
“We have made huge progress, especially lately, in diagnostics, which open pathways to treatment,” Johns said. “It’s no longer a question of ‘if’ we will succeed, but ‘when.’ “
Johns also praised the Colorado chapter for being a fundraising leader, a point illustrated when it was announced that three supporters — Susan Kiely, Kathy Klugman and another who wishes to remain anonymous — would match donations given that day, up to $15,000. In less than a half-hour, master of ceremonies Ed Greene was able to say “mission accomplished,” and that the bottom line had just taken a signficant jump.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com
