Kristen Beagley

I’m hosting a Cuppa to raise funds for all people living with dementia.

I'm taking part in Cuppa Time for Dementia to raise funds that support more than 433,300 Australians living with this condition right now. 

But I need your help!

Please support me so we can continue to help people with dementia by providing the services and support they need every day.

My connection with dementia:

Having a connection with dementia is quite simply, painful. A long grief. A roller-coaster. Anxiety of not knowing which part of your loved one you will lose next. Dementia isn't simple, those who have seen it closely would wish it was no more than a deterioration of memory, a classic case of an elderly relative starting to forget things. Dementia is complex, a constant unknown, that shifts the moment you feel you understand any small element of your loved ones progression. 

Dementia can see someone remember their history, but forget how to use a fork. It can see someone with their ability to converse stolen simply by the inability to translate from brain to words, conversations trapped in complete frustration. 

For a loved one it's trying to reconcile why someone can recall your childhood but needs help to wash their hands or feed themselves. It's trying desperately to decipher what they are saying to help ease the frustration. It's the anxious walk towards them wondering if today will be the day they no longer remember you.

Dementia is a thief, but it steals randomly, sometimes it takes months to make its next move, other times it hits you over and over again and leaves you feeling like shortly there will be nothing left. 

Dementia has stolen so much from our family, but it cannot take away our ability to talk about it, to raise awareness of how complex it is, to support others in this exclusive club that none of us want to be apart of. So we will sit and sip and talk and cry and hopefully raise some funds in the hope that it brings hope to others and closer to a reality where no other unsuspecting family will have to face this cruel thief with such uncertainty.