- At some point, I won't be able to remember my name.
But right now,
as you can see, I'm doing good.
- You are doing awesome!
- Yes!
(playful music)
I'm Mariam.
- It's nice to meet you, Mariam.
My name's Crystal.
- Nice to meet you, Crystal.
You're beautiful.
- Thank you.
You're beautiful too.
- Well, thank you.
(laughing)
- What are we here to talk about?
- It's called Alzheimer's.
Have you heard of Alzheimer's?
- No.
- Alzheimer's is a disease
and it's in the brain.
It's in the head.
And, oh what's that like...
Thing that goes around eating things?
- Oh, you mean Pac-Man?
- Pac-Man! Yes!
Well, there's a Pac-Man going around eating
my brain.
(laughing)
Yeah.
- May be you could just create a ghost in your brain
and then eat Pac-Man and then go bye-bye
and then the ghost goes away.
- Sure. Absolutely. Why not?
(laughing)
With Alzheimer's disease,
the brain starts to shrink
and so memories go away.
And I forget things.
- My dad is kinda like that.
When my mama asks him to do something,
he doesn't do it,
every single time,
and he always says
I forgot.
(laughing)
I forgot.
And over and over every single time.
(laughing)
- Well, I can relate
(laughing)
cause I forget all the time.
- What things do you forget?
- People's names,
like you told me your name but I forgot it.
- It's Crystal.
- I know, but I will forget it.
(laughing)
- If you couldn't remember our names,
could you remember your name?
- Oh, yeah...
I think I will remember my name, I think.
- Does the technology help you remember things?
- Absolutely.
I feel blessed that I live with technology
because technology helps me a lot.
You know?
I can contact people who are on the other side
of the country.
You know?
- Yeah.
- I've got lots of friends all over.
Do you have friends?
- Yeah.
My bestest friend is Kristin.
- Kristin?
- She's my little sister.
- Oh, really.
- Surprise.
- Oh that's so great!
- Kristin, she always wants food.
After lunch.
Mom, can I have some more food?
After dinner.
Mom, can I have more food?
After breakfast.
Mom, can I have more food?
(laughing)
And my mom's like
Wow Kristin, you really like to eat.
(laughing)
- One of the side effects of Alzheimer's for me
is that I don't get hungry anymore.
Have you heard...
You know what ALzheimer's is?
- Yeah...
You said that earlier.
- Ah yeah...
See, I'm gonna repeat myself because I forget what I said.
- It's okay.
(laughing)
It's okay.
(laughing)
Does it get worse?
- Yes.
I can gonna keep declining,
so that I'm gonna keep forgetting more and more and more.
At some point, I won't be able to remember my name.
And I don't know how much longer I'm going to be around.
But, I'm just really very positive.
Look on the bright side.
- There's always a bright side.
- That's right!
- Even if you don't see a bright side,
there is always one bright side,
you're still alive.
- Yes!
Give me a high five!
(high five sound)
Yeah girl!
(laughing)
- It's very nice to meet you, Mariam.
- Can I get a hug?
Thank you, sweetie pie.
Thank you!
(clapping sound)
Wait a minute, I'm stuck.
I'm stuck here.
There we are, okay.