I never really knew my grandmother. I may have visited her dozens of times and I may have given her hugs and kisses, but I never really knew her.

She started forgetting things years before I was born. By the time I was born, she wasn't herself. She wasn't the mother my dad grew up with and she wasn't the grandmother he hoped I would get to know.

So Alzheimer's, how dare you? How dare you take away a relationship I could have had with a great person? I never got to know who she really was. To five year old me, she was a confused old woman who barley knew who I was. She wasn't the grandmother I should have looked forward to visiting.

How dare you make her forget my dad? My dad would go to see her and she would have no clue who he was. It would take forever to convince her that he was her son. It is still awful to see how much pain that caused him and his siblings.

How dare you destroy my last memory of her? The last time I saw her, she was acting like an infant and couldn't even eat on her own. The only language she understood was Italian (her first language). None of her children were able to communicate with her. I never got to say goodbye or tell her I loved her.

How dare you make me worry about the future of my dad, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, my sister, and myself? The threat of Alzheimer's will always be hanging over my head. Will I end up forgetting my children? Will my dad not know who I am in ten years?

How dare you make my dad cry? My dad has always been the strongest person I know. Before my grandmother died, I had never seen him cry. It was something I never thought I would see.

There is one last thing I need to say to you. Thank you. Despite all the pain you have caused, and despite how much I hate that you exist, you have shown me how precious every moment of life is. You never know when your life will start to go downhill. You taught me to value every moment I have with my family and to make as many memories as possible.

I hope that someday, you will no longer be making families suffer but for now, we have to continue to fight you. In the end, you won't win. Someday, the world will be free of you.