Gladys was a little girl when her grandfather returned home to Detroit to tell her about an amazing milestone he had achieved: He had just completed visiting all 50 states.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow. All 50,’” she said.

When Gladys traveled to Vermont in August, the retired truck driver reached the very last state in her quest for all 50 herself. It was a remarkable, lifelong dream of a destination – but her journey was not the one she had expected.

Gladys took the four-week, 6,000-mile trip from Idaho, through Detroit, Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Vermont with her husband, Dean, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019. It was a challenging trip, but Gladys said her community and the education and support she continuously receives from her team at Ceresti Health has been helping the couple through the unexpected twists and turns that come with dementia care.

The bumps on the road can be little things, such as having to take over the management of her husband’s medications. Or bigger things, like the hurtful words that can sometimes spill out of people whose personalities are being reshaped by disease.

Through it all, Ceresti Caregiver Coach Ashley Brunswick and Brain Health Coach Marilyn Abrahmson are helping to support and guide her.

“Redirection has been one of the most important things I’ve learned,” she said. “Being able to say to myself, ‘He’s not being mean to you. It’s the dementia.’ Just calm down and redirect. It’s been an experience, that’s for sure.”

Gladys and Dean spent some of their 30 years of marriage together on the road as a truck driving team. He’d take the day shift. She’d drive through the night. When they retired, they continued to take road trips together to visit their large, blended family and take in the incredible sights of the U.S. About six years ago, Gladys began to notice a decline. 

“My husband was just having little lapses,” she said. “He was just not exactly the same as he was before.” 

A doctor confirmed her suspicion, and her insurance, Pacific Source, connected her to Ceresti. She signed up immediately.

“I got a tablet in the mail, and I thought, ‘OK, I’ll give this a try,’” she said. “It has been so great. The whole thing is so informative. I watch the Teepa Snow tutorials religiously.”

Gladys says she feels fortunate that Dean’s progression is still early and that the couple was able to hit the road this summer. In addition to reaching Gladys’s 50th state, the goal of the trip was to deliver a family Bible to Dean’s brother in Buffalo.

Among the things Gladys packed for her road trip were her Ceresti tablet, and the wealth of knowledge she’s received from the program – which proved invaluable when dementia-related issues would arise.

There was the Canadian cash that Gladys had wanted to use up at a Montreal pizza parlor – but that Dean forgot he had in his wallet. There was the hourlong search for the “missing” phone, that was actually just wedged in the door handle of the car. The unread social cues. The inability to concentrate when the sun started to go down. 

Gladys said that with each detour she’d use techniques and reminders from Ceresti to get through the frustration.

“I know now how to just calm myself down and say, ‘It's OK. It’s not life and death,’” she said.

Throughout the trip, Gladys sent Ashley and Marilyn updates along with photos, each one more delightful than the next. She didn’t rely on their help during the road trip, but knowing that they were just a text or phone call away was reassuring, she said.

“I knew that if I got into trouble or anything got really serious, there were people I could call,” she said. “It made me confident that there would be someone there. I'm also in a personal support group, and I've heard some of the situations that could happen, and luckily we're not there yet. But some people are in denial. They don’t realize they have to get help right off the bat.”

Getting involved with Ceresti, learning from the educational material and from the one-on-one coaching has helped Gladys and Dean stay their course as much as possible. True, life has taken detours that they could not have predicted – and would not have chosen. But whatever comes their way, they know that they are not on this journey alone.

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