About Me

By Bill Craig
I'm a 74-year-old German-American and have lived in the US since 1960. I became a naturalized American citizen in 1970 in order to join the United States Air Force. I am a Viet Nam veteran and am proud to have done my part for my adoptive country.

I grew up in a small town called Villa Rica and furthered my education at what was then known as West Georgia College (it's the University of West Georgia today) where I majored in English literature with an emphasis on satire and minored in Journalism and Partying.

My wife Dondra and I had one son, Jason who passed on 6.17.17 and left us two grandchildren; Amber and Julian.  We currently reside in Carrollton Georgia and are both retired due to disabilities; Dondra's being physical (primarily pulmonary hypertension due to kidney disease) and mine Early Onset/Alzheimer's Dementia and Prostate Cancer (now in remission).

Until 2008, I worked as a respiratory therapist. Because I was going into cognitive decline I decided to have myself checked out and, after 18 years, left a career that brought me much satisfaction and happiness.

For fun, I like to play my drums, guitars and am an avid cyclist/runner. In 2006, I decided to put my love for my bicycle to good use and rode cross country from Dallas, Texas to Dallas, Georgia to promote and educate the public on behalf of the "Spay, Neuter and Adopt" project. We called my solo bike ride The Dallas TX To Dallas GA Ride For Wet Noses (sorry, pages have been taken down due to lack of funds) When we moved to Carrollton in 2008, we repeated the ride, this time called the Carrollton, TX To Carrollton GA Ride To Care (Page taken down due to lack of funds)..

Utilizing my journalistic skills, I decided to keep a record - a diary of sorts - of what's going on with me, my symptoms, and my personal research. This journal is that record and I hope you find it interesting, useful, and maybe a little entertaining as well.

Your comments are welcome and I hope you'll check in with me regularly.

Thanks

Bill

Popular Posts

Thanks, Suzette!

By Bill Craig
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My friend and dementia counsellor Suzette recently wrote a very informative (and flattering) article about the "German Boy" and his upcoming bike ride, and you may see it by clicking the title of this entry. I am very appreciative of her and the GA chapter of the Alzheimer's Association for supporting me, and my ride is dedicated to them, Alzheimer patients and their caregivers as well as the four-footers. Incidentally, D and I were finally able to attend this month's Forget Me Not luncheon (for Alzheimer's patients and their care givers) at South of La Paz Mexican restaurant in Atlanta and I'd like to thank my friend for making this possible. Really , Suzette's so sweet she makes ya wanna roll over and do all kinds of doggy tricks for her! I kid, of course, but I don't think I have ever met a more charismatic person in my life. It was also a pleasure to meet and converse with Kathy Simpson who also works with the Georgia chapter. Kathy and I have e-m
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Skipping Ahead A Bit In The Memoirs

By Bill Craig
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This is part of something I wrote on another message board with some editing, okay? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My very good friend on the Dope, Oakminster , brought this to mind when he shared this in a thread of mine called "Your Favorite Commercials". Okay, I have already mentioned that my American soldier Dad brought me and my German Mom and brother to the US in 1960. At that time, I still spoke with a very heavy German accent and did my best to try to fit in. One of the ways was to "go out" for "Midget Football" and it was my first encounter with who would prove to be an inspiration to me and I am sure many others: Coach Roger Sauls who passed away last year. Coach was very patient with me, teaching me the "ins and outs" of throwing and kicking that strange looking egg-shaped ball! In those days, a lot of little boys went out for it and we all had our heroes on the Villa Rica Wildcats Varsity t
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Alzheimer's Advocacy Forum 2011

By Bill Craig
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I have been given a great opportunity and honor from my local Alzheimer's Association and my counsellors Suzette and Kathy, and I wanted to tell y'all about it. It is a chance to be granted a scholarship to attend the Public Policy Forum/Advocacy Action Summit which will be May 15-17 2011 in Washington, DC. It will be a time to become educated about the issues, learn new skills, network with fellow advocates and take our message directly to members of Congress to fight for our legislative agenda and I am honored to have been chosen to have my name submitted for this event. If I am chosen to receive the scholarship, I plan not only to participate in all of the above events, but to serve as a "reporter" and write about what I see and experience there. This will also allow me to put to use my journalistic skills which have been "moth-balled" of late. Quoting from Karen Kauffman's* article, 2010 was a year of optimism for those of us in Alzheimer's Advo
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