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The power of gathering with strangers, walking to end Alzheimer's

Cherri Brick, Janet Abu-Sirriya, Jordan Abu-Sirriya at the 2021 Walk to End Alzheimer's in Sioux Falls
Lori Walsh
/
SDPB
Cherri Brick, Janet Abu-Sirriya, Jordan Abu-Sirriya at the 2021 Walk to End Alzheimer's in Sioux Falls

This "Take a Moment" segment is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.

Do you know someone with a South Dakota story to tell? Email the team at inthemoment@sdpb.org.

On Saturday, I visited the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Sioux Falls, where I met people from across the state who gathered together to raise money for research and to simply take a walk, side by side, with people who might understand what they are going through.

They laughed and cried and clutched hand-held pinwheel flowers in purple, blue, yellow, and orange. The yellow flower meant the person holding it was caring for someone with Alzheimer's. And that's how I found Cherri Brick, from Edmonds County, who spoke about her mother as the petals of the yellow pinwheel flower in Brick's hand fluttered in the morning breeze and "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves played in the distance.

Here is Brick and her sister Janet Abu-Sirriya (Janet is from Brown County) talking about their mother, of gathering together to support one-another, and of hopefully finding a cure for a devastating disease.

You can learn more about Alzheimer's support in South Dakota online at alz.org/sd.

Do you know someone with a South Dakota story to tell? Email the team at inthemoment@sdpb.org.

Lori Walsh is the host and senior producer of In the Moment.