128 | March• 2018
WAITING FOR ALZHEIMER’S
than anything was for people with
Alzheimer’s not to live in shame but
innobility,andtolearnwaystocarry
on. And this woman was telling her
shewishedforit,too.Gerihadnever
cried,neverpitiedherselfforgetting
the disease, but this made her cry.
More than three years had rolled by
since Geri Taylor hadn’t recognised
her face in the mirror, and began to
wonder what would fill her days. Now,
with her involvement in the Alzheim-
er’s Association, here was the answer.
This would be her second act, some-
thing that drew on her healthcare
career: helping others deal with the
darkness of Alzheimer’s.
Having purpose was the stabilising
force. And Alzheimer’s itself, she real-
ised, could be her purpose.Currently, Geri Taylor is a spokesperson
in the US for the Alzheimer’s Association,
sharing her story to raise awareness of the
disease and advocating for increased
funding for Alzheimer’s research.Connecticut chapter of the Alzheim-
er’s Association, saying they were
amazed at how many people were
stillintheclosetaboutAlzheimer’s.
“Ifitstayshidden,”saysGeri,“peo-
ple don’t develop the strategies to
compensate for the deficits. They just
slowly pass into a state of inability.”
The Alzheimer’s Association staff
members agreed. They mentioned
a woman who couldn’t remember
where different dishes were stored so
she put glass doors on her cabinets.
And the husband who worried his
wife would get lost when they went
shopping, so now they wore shirts of
matching colour.
Geri Taylor listened to all this, and
then the association executive said
she wanted Geri’s help. Come and
speak. Become one of their champi-
ons. Maybe become a representative
to the national organisation.
Geri’sfacecrinkledup,andshebe-
gan to cry. For what she wished more
PRIME FINDMaths fanatic Jonathan Pace, 51, has found the world’s largest
prime number after a 14-year search. Dubbed M77232917, the
prime – a number greater than one that is only divisible by one
and itself – comprises 23,249,425 digits. If printed in full with
one-millimetre digits, it would stretch the length of more than
1500 London buses. The figure is nearly one million digits longer
than the previous world’s longest prime, discovered in January- Pace is set to receive a $3000 reward for his find.
THE GUARDIAN