You can see Kathleen Bade on FOX 5 San Diego weeknights at 6, 10 and 11 PM. She’s a straight-shooting news anchor, keeping calm and cool no matter the story.
If you’re lucky, you saw her emcee last year’s Walk4ALZ. This was Kathleen outside of the studio, as she shared her family’s battle with dementia for the very first time. Kathleen as a daughter, trying to grapple with the fact her mother, Julia, will probably never wish her a happy birthday again. That one day, she may not even recognize her.
“It was a big moment for me personally just to say it out loud (that my mom has dementia),” Kathleen explains. “I’m an extremely private person and it almost felt like betraying her that I would reveal her illness, but the level of empathy and camaraderie was instantaneous and wonderful.”
That empathy and camaradie is why Kathleen is excited to emcee Walk4ALZ again this October 20th. You can sign up to walk for free by clicking here.
“Wanting to emcee again was more of a need really. I just wanted to be wrapped in the positivity again and support,” she says. “It sounds corny, but it truly helps. You don’t have to explain how you feel…everyone gets it.”
Opening up about her mom’s diagnosis at the Walk has helped Kathleen deal with the unique twists and turns of this cruel disease.
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“It just helps to know people understand what you’re going through – this slow progression of loss. Though sometimes it feels it was gone in an instant,” she says. “I think there is a misconception when you’re on TV that people tend to believe your life is a bed of roses, and I want our viewers to know I’m in the foxhole with them. I understand pain, have compassion and will earnestly work alongside them to find answers or options.”
Kathleen at the 2017 Walk4ALZ
While there are more than 84,000 San Diegans currently living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia (up from 65,000 last year), there still is a stigma surrounding the disease. Kathleen hopes those struggling to make peace with a diagnosis will stop by the walk and take advantage of the free support Alzheimer’s San Diego provides. She knows firsthand what a difference that can make.
“Come out of the shadows. Come to the walk. See all the regular people this impacts every day,” Kathleen urges. “Aside from having all the professional information you could possibly need to deal with Alzheimer’s, the kindness and support is right there being offered up with no agenda. It’ll improve your life and circumstances, that I know. And with a disease we can’t predict – that’s pretty nice.”
Join Kathleen and thousands of other San Diegans at Walk4ALZ on October 20th at Balboa Park! Click here to register for free.
