Christy Zielinski – Cathy Reitz

Today’s tribute is written by my wonderfully talented friend Cathy Reitz.  It honors her sister who suffers from frontal lobe dementia.

I lost my sister, Christy Zielinski. I’ve been losing her for 13 years. I didn’t know why until 8 years ago when she was diagnosed, at 57, with frontal lobe dementia. Although people like to think of all brain deterioration as Alzheimer’s, there are many types of this disease, each one choosing a different part of the brain to attack first. Some of her first losses were spatial, numbers and time. Now at 65 she lives in a very small world of being guided in what to do and where to go. At times the present is still with her at and we have been told that with FLD she will never go to a “happy place”. The part of her brain that tells her something is wrong continues to do so even though the capability to deal with it is gone.
But I am writing this to tell you that she was amazing. My sister was an accomplished teacher, Social Worker and older sister. She raised two lovely daughters, got 2 Master Degrees and was a force in the community where she lived. She was what I wanted to be when I grew up; independent, strong, funny, kind, caring, artistic, a quilter and knitter. She told me the facts of life and let me have boyfriends over when I babysat. She loaned me money and was the caregiver when our mother was dying of cancer. She made us laugh.

I have my granddaughter with me in this picture. She’ll never know my sister. She’ll hear stories and see pictures but this disease has taken my sister out of our lives. I will not let Ophelia forget I had a sister, Christy. I will continue to share her life with Ophelia as she grows.

When I visit Christy she knows I am a “sister”. Usually I can get her to smile or occasionally to laugh. She would love this project. It is the type of event she would want to be a part of. Thank you Kobi for the chance to share my sister with Ophelia. Hopefully before too long they will find some answers to this disease. Until then, I will try and enjoy each day twice, once for Christy and once for me.”

–Cathy Reitz