Meyers Leonard Character Analysis

Meyers Leonard, an NBA player for the Portland Trail Blazers, helped his team beat the Memphis Grizzlies by scoring 13 points and collecting 13 rebounds in one game, but he would have given it all back to have overcome Alzheimer’s and the effect it has had on his family. In a recent visit to watch Meyers play live, he and his grandmother Rita Douma sat down to talk with Lesley Yanak, Director of Marketing for Koelsch Senior Communities and Chrissy Hall, Executive Director of Silver Creek Inn Memory Care Community in Mesa Arizona, about the disease that took the life of his grandfather Butch in January 2016.

Butch Douma was a brilliant man. As a teenager, he was an all-state center and earned a scholarship to play basketball at a university,

but instead chose a different plan by studying architectural design. He learned to fly, raised quarter horses, raced cars, and was an artistic sculptor and painter. He was an avid golfer who played sports all of his life and was a loving husband and grandfather.
When Butch first showed signs of memory loss, it was a surprise for the family.
“It was so gradual, that he sometimes couldn’t finish a sentence. He spoke less and less and then it just stopped,” said Rita, his wife of nearly 40 years.
An event during the NBA 2012 Draft changed everything for this family. When Rita and her daughter Tracie flew home following Meyer’s draft selection, Butch was in a hotel two hours south waiting to pick up his wife. He had made the trip many times before and was expecting her phone call. After her arrival, Rita called Butch several times with no answer. She began to worry, and it was almost 10:00 pm before she finally reached him by cell phone. He was driving on the wrong interstate and did not know where he was. Rita kept him talking on the phone and coached him to turn off at the next exit to find a service station. Once there, she had him pass the phone to the clerk so she could explain that her husband had Alzheimer’s and to get help. The police were called, and Rita borrowed her daughter’s car and drove for three hours in the middle of the night to pick him up. Arriving at 2:00 am, in tears, exhausted and afraid, but finally reunited with her husband.
From where Rita was located to reach Butch, required her to travel through unfamiliar Illinois farm country where any of the towns along the way on that Friday night near midnight was closing down.

“Going through that night drive, so black, without knowing where I was going, really scared me and I cried and prayed the whole way…but you know, when somebody tells me the world is trouble I tell them how good people are... People helped us, and they didn’t know us from Adam,” said Rita.

After driving home, Butch’s memory loss in conjunction with Rita’s health challenges resulted in Butch moving into Silver Creek Inn Memory Care Community in Mesa, Arizona, where he was cared for by a loving and caring staff in tandem with his wife Rita, who frequently visited.

“I recently bought him coloring books because he’s an artist. I thought that would bring back his artistic talents. He used to do crossword puzzles, but they became too hard for him. This man who flew and refurbished aircraft could no longer do the simplest of things. Alzheimer's is such an ugly disease. With other diseases, people know what will happen. This is a slow, ugly deterioration of a man who was so brilliant, so talented and used to say there weren’t enough hours in a day,” said

Rita
Meyers saw how difficult it was for his grandmother and was concerned:
“When I saw him at the nursing home [Silver Creek Memory Care Community], I was sad because I knew he was so smart, brilliant and loved to travel. This is my first experience with Alzheimer’s; it’s ugly and unfair. It was hard for my grandmother. She told me it was tough because she loved him and saw him deteriorate. It was hard on her day after day, seeing everything change,” exclaimed Meyers.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will grow each year. By 2025, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease is estimated to reach 7.1 million — a 40 percent increase from 2015. By 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease may nearly triple, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure the disease. Alzheimer’s is the only cause of death in the top ten in America that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed down.
Not only does Alzheimer’s affect thousands of Americans, but also one to four family members who act as a caregiver for each. Depending on the stage of the disease, hours of care may be needed to keep an individual affected safe, healthy and engaged in life. Memory loss will continue to affect more and more of families without prejudice against wealth, status, or location.
“Whether an NBA player or your next door neighbor, sooner or later, each of us will be personally affected by this disease. It doesn’t discriminate; it affects everybody. You can’t buy your way out,” explains Meyers.
Like the Douma family, you and your loved ones can find hope with warm and caring professionals who understand the intricacies of Alzheimer’s disease and make it easier for families to continue to remain close and active in the loved one’s life. For helpful information, go to www.koelslchseniorcommunities.com