Genealogy Story – The Vander Laan Family

Recently I was investigating the ancestors of someone at our church and ran across the surname of Vander Laan. Since that is also the name of the person who is on the video series that we are viewing in our Sunday School class, I wondered if there was a connection. In the process, I have discovered a very interesting genealogy story that I thought worthwhile to share.

Since I do not have a personal connection to anyone in this family, I do not know any of the family stories, therefore, all the below is based on the information I could glean from various census records and other documents.

Derk Vander Laan was born in Stedum, Loppersum, Groningen, Netherlands in 1835. He married Geertje Bolwijn in 1860 when they were each about 25 years old. They had a total of six children – Hendrik (b. 1863), Engelina (who went by the name Lena) (b. 1865), Jakob (b. 1867), Gerhard (b. 1871), Jan (who was also called John) (b. 1873), and Grietje (b. 1875).

However, the late 1870s were tragic years for the family. In 1875 Hindrik died at the age of 11, in 1876 Derk died at the age of 40, in 1877 Geertje died at the age of 42, and in 1878 Gerhard died at the age of 7. This left four children (Engelina, Jakob, Jan, and Grietje) who would have been 13, 11, 5, and 3 when their mother died.

For the next decade it is not known where the children lived – but likely they were taken care of by relatives in the area. In the early 1890s all four children (by now young adults) emigrated to the United States – specifically to the area around Grand Rapids, Michigan, where there were large Dutch settlements. According to ship registers, Jakob came first in 1888. Jan and Grietje came together on the ship Rotterdam on 23 September 1891. Lena came on the same ship six months later in 28 April 1892.

All four children settled down in the Grand Rapids area, married and had children.

·       Lena married Hubregt Wagemaker in 1893. See more on this below.

·       Jakob married Jacoba Jaspersse in 1889. They had two children. When she passed away he married again in 1897 to a widow, Fannie [Kremer], who had one other child from her first marriage.

·       Jan married Florence Wildeboer and had two children.

·       Grietje married Berk Sikkema in 1896 and they had four children.

As noted, Lena married Hubregt Wagemaker. He was born in 1836 (making him about the age of Lena’s parents). He had been married previously and had nine children (two died young), but his first wife had passed away in 1890. Thus, when he married a second time in 1893, Lena was 28, only 5 years older than her oldest stepson. Her step-children were at the time 23, 20, 19, 16, 15, 13, and 10.  Lena and Hubregt went on to have five more children together (two died young), the last born in 1904 when Hubregt was 68. Hubregt passed away in 1911, leaving 46-year-old Lena with her three children at home – then being 16, 13 and 7.

Lena had spent the majority of her life caring for children – first her younger siblings after the death of her parents, then the large group of step-children from her marriage, then her own children. When her youngest child was of marriable age in 1924, she would have been taking care of others since 1877 – a total of 47 years! Fortunately, Lena lived a long life and finally passed away in 1947 at the age of 82.

Lena’s daughter Jennie (Wagemaker) married Siebert Sterkenburg in 1918 when she was only 19. They had three sons, the youngest of whom was Walter Earl (b. 1925). Walter married Carol Howlerda and one of their sons was Mark Walter Sterkenburg who is a member of our church.

One of Jan’s sons was Harold Vander Laan (b. 1926). He was the father of Raynard Vander Laan who is the individual who produces the video series we have been viewing at church – That the World May Know.

You Could Write a Book About That

Recently I shared a fun picture that I saw on Facebook (see below). One of my wife’s cousins replied with the comment, “you could write a book about that.” Since my wife and I have had primary childcare duties for our daughter’s four boys, we have had our share of incidents. So, while I may not have enough material to write a book, I thought it would be a good topic for a blog posting.

Here is a nice picture of these four grandsons sitting nicely in a row on the sofa. They are certainly not getting into trouble here. And for the most part they are good kids, follow instructions, and stay safe. But there are times . . . .

Climbing a Tree

In the spring of 2018, when Asher was only three, the four boys were playing together in the front yard. Living in the country and on a wooded lot, there are lots of trees, rocks, and dirt to play in/on – a great environment for four growing boys. I was in another part of the yard, but keeping my ears tuned to the play in the front yard. Suddenly, I heard one of the older boys calling out, “Asher’s stuck in a tree!”

I quickly ran to that part of the yard, to be greeted by the sight of Asher about 20’ up in one of the small pine trees. The lower branches were close enough to the ground that they could be reached by stepping off one of the nearby large rocks that we have in the area. Once getting on the lower branch, he just kept climbing from branch to branch. But he quickly got up two stories in the tree before the other boys noticed and they had called for my help.

What to do!? The tree was too small and the branches too flimsy to support my weight. And even if I had a handy ladder, the tree was not strong enough to lean the ladder against it at that height. And I couldn’t leave in case he fell while I went for help.

I positioned myself under him, so that if he fell I could catch him before he hit the ground – or worse yet the large rocks at the base of the tree. Yelling up to him, I told him that he’d have to start climbing down the same way he got up and that I would guide him from one branch to the next since climbing down to branches below you is much more difficult that climbing to ones that are above you where you can see them.

One foot at a time, one branch at a time, I slowly talked him down, all the while with my arms above me ready to catch him if need be. After an agonizing few minutes, he was finally low enough that I could reach him and have him let go so that I could take his weight and lower him safely to the ground.

I think I was more scared than he was! And I then gave all four boys a stern warning that they were never to climb a tree again unless I was there to oversee the activity. The tree is still there, and we have not had any further instances of climbing. Once was enough!

Getting Stuck

Isaiah is thin and wiry. And he’s also quite adventurous. He likes getting into small places. But sometimes he’s not able to get himself out the same way he got in. A few years ago, he was playing in the kitchen and at the time we had a large cooler on the floor next to the refrigerator. Somehow, he managed to stick his head into the opening in the handle of the cooler and pull it down to his shoulders. But then he couldn’t get it off the same way. As you can tell from the below picture, he was stuck – and not very happy about it.

We adults all had a bit of a laugh at the situation and took his picture before we set about getting him out of the predicament. Fortunately, by lifting up the cooler and having him put his face to the front so his chin wouldn’t catch he came out pretty easily. He didn’t do that again!

Getting Stuck (Again!)

As noted, Isaiah has a propensity for getting into small spaces. A few weeks ago the sheets on the bunkbed in the room that he and Ethan share were being washed and they had been told that they could put some new clean, fitted sheets on their mattresses. They figured that standing the mattresses on their side would make it easier to put on the fitted sheets. Isaiah decided to tackle the mattress on the top bunk. But doing so meant that the slats that hold up the mattress were exposed.

But as he was maneuvering around, he stepped through the opening between two of the slats. The opening was large enough that with downward pressure his foot went through but his calf would not fit. But upward tugs do not stretch the skin the same way and so he could not pull his foot out again. Once again – stuck!

Ethan ran to get me and I also tried to see if I could maneuver his foot into a position where it would come out – but I was not successful either. All the slats in this particular bunkbed are screwed onto the support rails to keep the spacing even. So I had Ethan go get me a tool box with a Phillips screwdriver. I took out the screw on one end of one of the two slats that Isaiah’s foot was between so that I could enlarge the opening and he could get his foot out. Problem solved – once again he knows to avoid that situation – and I finished the task of putting on the fitted sheets in a safer manner.

Loosing a Fingernail

A few weeks ago, as the boys were playing, Caleb managed to get his finger pinched in the bedroom door. It caught his finger about 2/3 of the way down the nail. Very quickly, that part of the nail turned a lovely shade of black-and-blue. Initially there was not much to do except put some ice on it to dull the pain – and of course use the miraculous power of a band-aid.

As the next few days went by, the nail remained that lovely shade, the band-aid disappeared, and life resumed. But the boys being what they are, and it being summer, they were involved in a lot of outdoor activities. Then one day Caleb came in crying because he’d been digging in the ground and he’d gotten a lot of dirt up under the fingernail. I flushed it out with water as best I could, then put two band-aids on it – one over the top to stop more dirt from getting under the nail, and a second one around the finger the hold the first one on. But then every few days the band-aids would come loose and he’d come to me for replacements. I could tell that he was likely to lose the fingernail before too long as there was a gap between the nail and the finger that ran almost the entire length of the fingernail.

Finally, while swimming in our pool this week, the band-aid came off once again and he came running to me saying, “my fingernail is coming off!” I checked and the nail had come loose at the bottom and it was being held on only at one corner by being under the cuticle. I knew he wouldn’t like it, but I grabbed the now flopping fingernail, gave it a quick tug, and pulled it the rest of the way off. After a few tears, he found that just holding it under water in the pool was comforting enough. Within ten minutes he was swimming again and having fun – just holding that finger up enough to avoid too much contact with anything.

At this point we’re not sure if the fingernail will grow back – or how long it will take if it does – but he’s doing fine with it. And he’s keeping it away from doors as they close. Boys! Such a challenge growing up!

Rochambeau and the Revolutionary War

When we think of the American Revolutionary War, what comes to mind is the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When asked to name significant figures involved in the war, the first person we probably think of is George Washington – and rightly so, as he was the Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army throughout the entire war and our first President afterwards. We also might think of some of the other famous colonists during this period like Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Nathan Hale, or perhaps Benedict Arnold.

But confining our list of individuals to just the colonists is ignoring the very important role that the French played in helping us win that war. One that might come to mind is Lafayette (*1). But as important as he was in helping the Americans, he was a lone individual who came here seeking glory in war. He was made a major general at only the age of 19, and later was key in leading some of the American troops to block British General Cornwallis (*2) at the Siege of Yorktown where the eventual surrender of Cornwallis marked the end of the significant conflict portion of the war.

Rochambeau

But it was the presence of actual French troops that helped turn the war and forced Cornwallis to surrender. Without them, it is quite likely that Cornwallis would have overpowered the troops led by Lafayette, the conflict would have continued, and the colonists eventually defeated. The French troops who helped change the course of the war were led by Rochambeau (*3).

But in this blog I’m not going to focus on the battles that the French helped us win. Rather I’d like to look at the period of time before the French joined up with Washington near the Hudson River in New York.

There is an excellent summary (*4) on Wikipedia about the route that Rochambeau’s troops took starting from their initial landing in Newport, RI, in July 1780. There is a map which shows this route as well. Another website shows additional details of the march route (*5).

They met up with Washington in early July, stayed in NY for six weeks, then the combined armies went down to VA which is where they joined up with the American troops led by Lafayette and led the Siege of Yorktown which resulted in Cornwallis surrendering. The following fall they returned by roughly the same route, but went back to Boston where they reboarded ships and returned to France.

Route Across Connecticut

Rochambeau led an army of 5,300 men and 450 officers. They left Providence, RI, in multiple divisions over a couple of days in mid-June, 1781, travelling about 15 miles a day. Rochambeau was in the first division. At the end of each day’s march, they would find a new place to camp for the night. If they were in a village, Rochambeau and his top officers would stay in a local inn, but if not, they would camp with their men.

Consider this from the point of view of the villagers. All the towns in Connecticut were populated nearly entirely by individuals from Britain/Scotland/Ireland/Wales. They only spoke English. And here they found themselves being “invaded” by a division of the French Army – men who wore unfamiliar uniforms, who spoke a language that no one in town was likely to understand. And the number of men in each division quite often exceeded the entire population of the town. At some locations they stayed more than one day, but with the divisions being only one day apart that meant that several divisions might be in town at the same time, necessitating multiple camp sites.

And yet, they welcomed these men. The war with England had been going on for about seven years at this point – far longer then most people had expected – and they needed this kind of intervention from the French.

The Inns

Many of the inns that were occupied by General Rochambeau and his top officers are still in existence. The owners of these inns were generally individuals who are cousins of mine from the colonial time of Connecticut.

·       White’s Tavern (*6) – Also known as Daniel White’s Tavern, was operated by Daniel White (1749-1816). He is my fourth cousin, 6 times removed via our common ancestor, John Crow.

·       Elm Street Inn (*7) – Was begun by my great*9 grandfather, William Lewis (1620-1690), in 1655, but at the time of Rochambeau’s march, was being run by Williams’s great-grandson (and my third cousin, 7 times removed), Phineas Lewis (1722-1800).

·       Asa Barnes Tavern (*8) – Had been established as a tavern around 1675 by Asa Barnes (1745-1819), my second cousin, 8 times removed through my great*9 grandfather, Nathan Sutcliffe.

·       Israel Bronson Tavern – As the name implies, was being run by Israel Bronson (1735-1785). He is my second cousin, 7 times removed, by our common ancestors, my great*9 grandparents, John Welton and Mary Upson.

·       Caleb Baldwin’s Tavern (*9) – Was being run by Caleb Baldwin (1724-1797). He is also my second cousin, 7 times removed, by our common ancestor, Nicholas Camp.

East Farms Cemetery

There is one other tavern and one other incident that were a part of Rochambeau’s march across Connecticut. During the trip through Waterbury, two of Rochambeau’s soldiers became ill. As noted in (*10), the local residents helped to care for ill soldiers along the way.

The two men were initially housed in the tavern owned by Joseph Beach (1714-1795) (*11, my second cousin, 7 times removed). But the two men died and Waterbury paid 15 shillings to Joseph to purchase land for a burying ground. He purchased a plot, four rods square, where he buried the two soldiers. This is now East Farms Cemetery (located at 3156 East Main St) (*12). In addition to a monument recognizing the two soldiers which was erected in 1914, there are 163 other graves located there. Included among these are Joseph Beach, the innkeeper, and many of my Pierpont relatives. The cemetery was in the back yard of the house next door to where my grandparents lived, so I had the privilege of visiting the cemetery many times during my growing up years. I did not realize the historical significance at the time!

Notes:

*1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette

*2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cornwallis,_1st_Marquess_Cornwallis

*3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Donatien_de_Vimeur,_comte_de_Rochambeau

*4 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%E2%80%93Rochambeau_Revolutionary_Route

*5 - http://w3r-archive.org/history/hist-ct.htm

*6 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White%27s_Tavern

*7 - https://historicbuildingsct.com/elm-tree-inn-1655/

*8 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_B._Frost_House

*9 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_Baldwin_Tavern

*10 - http://www.nextexithistory.com/explore/historical-sites/washington-rochambeau-revolutionary-route-4/

*11 - https://www.google.com/search?q=joseph+beach+tavern+waterbury&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS859US859&oq=joseph+beach+tavern+waterbury&aqs=chrome..69i57j33l2.8083j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

*12 - https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2144086/east-farms-cemetery

War is a Long Process

It’s been well over two centuries since the American Revolutionary War. As time passes, we tend to forget the details, and what we learned in school about this significant event. But even in the prior sentence I’ll bet that most people would only name July 4, 1776 as the “event”. Those who remember a little more of their US History might be able to remember that there were other things besides the writing of the Declaration of Independence that were a part of that war. They might remember things like the “shot heard ‘round the world” in Concord. They might remember Washington Crossing the Delaware, or the harsh winter at Valley Forge. But most people would be hard pressed to give the dates of some of these other aspects of that war or to tell how many years the war actually lasted.

In more recent history there are probably more people who could give the range of dates for the US Civil War (1861-1865), for WWI (1914-1918) (*3, *4), or for WWII (1939-1945) (*5, *6), although for the latter ones, we tend to focus on only the portion where the US was involved. And we now get upset about wars that aren’t over with quickly, with the war in Iraq lasting 7 years (*7), and the War in Afghanistan now dragging on in it’s 18^th year (as least as far a US involvement is concerned) (*8).

So, let me refresh your memory about the American Revolutionary War – the one that defined us as a nation (at least for my US readers). Here is a brief timeline of some of the more significant events. (For a fuller list, see *1 and *2).

Pre-conflict

People might come to different conclusions about what events to attribute to the war. The timeline in *1 starts in 1629, but the timeline in *2 starts in 1754. But there is some agreement as to which events were most significant:

·       1764-1765 – England imposes various acts upon the colonies that make people upset. These include the Sugar Act (to raise revenue), the Currency Act (preventing the colonies from producing their own currency), the Stamp Act (putting a tax on a number of items), and the Quartering Act (requiring citizens to house British troops).

·       1765 – Delegates from nine of the colonies meet together for the Stamp Act Congress which adopts a Declaration of Rights and Grievances.

·       1767 – England passes the Townshend Acts which place duties on many items imported into the colonies

·       1770 – The Boston Massacre – British soldiers had been stationed in Boston since 1768. When some of them are harassed by local citizens, they fire into the crowd, killing three and critically wounding two others who later die from their wounds.

·       1773 – The Tea Act and subsequent Boston Tea Party.

·       1774 – England passes the Intolerable Acts, more of the same type of oppression as some of the above.

In the fall of 1774, the First Continental Congress met with delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies. They sent a petition to the King asking for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts.

Armed Conflict Begins

·       April 1775 – Battles of Lexington and Concord (some of my relatives had a significant part in this, see *9)

·       May 1775 – Second Continental Congress meets, Fort Ticonderoga captured by Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys

·       June 1775 – George Washington named Commander in Chief of the Army

·       June 1775 – Battle of Bunker Hill

·       July 1776 – Declaration of Independence adopted

As you can see, we had already been fighting for over a year before we finally adopted a formal declaration. And you can see in the Declaration the listing of many of the items which preceded the conflict with specific reference to things like the Quartering Act, and some of the various forms of taxes imposed.

Conflict Continues

·       August 1776 – British defeat Washington on Long Island, but army manages to escape

·       September 1776 – British occupy New York City

·       December 1776 – Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton

·       January-May 1777 – Army winters in Morristown, NJ

·       July 1777 – Lafayette arrives from France to assist the Americans

·       September 1777 – British occupy Philadelphia

·       December 1777 – Army winters over in Valley Forge, PA

·       1778 – Continued fighting from NY to GA and west as far as St. Louis

·       November 1779 – Army winters over again at Morristown, NJ (harshest winter of the 18^th century)

The End Approaches

·       July 1780 – French troops arrive in Newport, RI, to assist

·       March 1781 – Articles of Confederation written

·       May 1781 – British cede Fort Granby SC

·       June 1781 – Augusta, GA recaptured by Americans

·       September 1781 – French fleet drives British naval forces from Chesapeake Bay

·       October 1781 – Cornwallis surrounded by Americans and French and surrenders

·       July 1782 – British evacuate GA

·       November 1782 – British and American sign preliminary Articles of Peace

Cleaning Up the Pieces

·       September 1783 – Treaty of Paris signed

·       November 1783 – British troops leave New York City

·       December 1783 – Washington resigns as Commander in Chief

·       September 1787 – Constitution signed

·       June 1788 – Constitution adopted

·       December 1788-January 1789 – First elections held

·       April 1789 – Congress meets, certifies Washington as first President

·       September 1789 – Bill of Rights approved by Congress

·       December 1791 – Bill of Rights ratified

Synopsis

From the first shots being fired in Lexington and Concord until the surrender at Yorktown, the American Revolutionary War lasted nearly seven years. But there were also eleven years of preliminaries before the actual conflict and another eight years after that surrender until the United States became an actual entity and elected their first President – a total of 26 years from beginning to end, one full generation.

Even then, the disagreements between the United States and Britain were not totally resolved. Only a decade after Washington was elected President, France, our partner in the American Revolutionary War, declared war on Britain, and in 1803, Britain once again began to capture American ships and impress American sailors into service in the British Navy (*10). This led to a series of Acts by the US Congress, then the first battle of what was called the War of 1812 was fought. This second war with Britain lasted about 3 years (again from the US perspective) and included American troops occupying Toronto, Canada, in 1813 and the retaliatory burning of Washington, DC, in 1814. It was not until Christmas Eve of 1814 that the Treaty of Ghent was signed – ending the disagreements and conflict with Britain that had begun in earnest FIFTY years earlier.

Notes:

*1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_American_Revolution

*2 - http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/revwartimeline.html

*3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_I

*4 – Fighting ended in 1918, but the Treaty of Versailles was not signed until January of 1919

*5 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_II

*6 – Conflict began in 1939, but the US did not enter until after Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941

*7 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Iraq_War

*8 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)

*9 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2018/01/313-genealogy-story-shot-heard-round.html

*10 - https://historyofmassachusetts.org/war-of-1812-timeline/

Cause of Death

One of my distant cousins recently commented that she wished she knew more about the circumstances of her grandparent’s deaths – especially because there are so many diseases where genetics plays a part in the “risk factor” of one getting that disease. I thought that it would be a good idea to document the cause of death of my grandparents and my parents.

Maternal Grandfather – Harold Granger Pierpont

Grampy Pierpont was born on 3 March 1898 and died on 30 November 1969 when he was only 71 years old. But there was no disease that was involved in his death. He had set up a ladder to clean the gutters on the back side of their house in Waterbury. The land on that side of the house sloped away from the house, so the bottom of the ladder was on that sloped surface. Although he had done this many times before, for some reason this time the ladder slipped and he fell to the ground on the paved driveway several feet below. He did not die immediately, but succumbed a few days later in the hospital as a result of his injuries.

Maternal Grandmother – Sara Emma [Blackman] Pierpont

Grammy Pierpont was born on 2 January 1898 and died on 18 December 1979 at the age of 81. That was a fairly long life for her generation. I do not know the exact cause of her death, except that she had been hospitalized a few weeks earlier. She had always been a short and somewhat rotund person, so that could have played a factor, but I really don’t know the exact circumstances. According to other family members, she is reported to have had diabetes.

Mother – Sylvia Louise [Pierpont] Russell

My mother was born on 28 June 1924 and died on 29 July 2012 at the age of 88. The cause of her death was a sudden heart attack. She had gotten out of bed early that morning, perhaps feeling unwell, and had taken the few steps to the bathroom where she succumbed. She was supposed to dine out with friends that evening and when she did not show up they drove to her house, found it locked, and called the police to break in where they discovered her. She was planning on living for several more years, but having a heart attack was not unexpected since she had had a smaller one several years earlier and was taking coumadin as a blood thinner to try and alleviate a recurrence. She had no other illnesses at the time and was otherwise healthy and very active.

Paternal Grandfather – Erskine Harold Russell

Grandpa Russell was born on 12 September 1894 and died on 23 January 1970 at the age of 75. I do not know all the circumstances of his death. However, in the journals of his step-sister, Eva [Pulver] Peet (who was nearly 78 at the time), she recorded that on January 17 he had his leg amputated and that he died from complications of that surgery six days later. It is speculation on my part, but I suspect that the amputation was quite possibly a result of diabetes and poor blood circulation that is often a consequence of it.

Paternal Grandmother – Vera Estelle [Levy] [Russell] Rogers

Nana Rogers was born on 2 June 1895 and died on 7 July 1963 at the age of only 68. She had dementia for a number of years and had been moved from one nursing home to another. When she finally passed away she was a resident at the State Hospital in Middletown, CT – having been “kicked out” of so many private nursing homes as they were unable to handle her. She would get quite violent and vocal quite often, enough so that I was often the only one who was taken to visit her when my father went so that my younger siblings would not get to upset by seeing her in the condition that she was in. In fact, at the last visit not too long after she was admitted to the hospital in Middletown, my mother even stayed in the car while only my father and myself went in.

While Alzheimer’s Disease was first described in 1906, it was not until a decade after my grandmother’s death that Congress established the National Institute on Aging to begin research on this disease. Thus, my grandmother would only have been diagnosed with dementia for which the treatment was hospitalization in a “mental institution”. The official name of the hospital in Middletown was the “Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane.”

Father – Vernon Harold Russell

My father was born on 20 November 1920 and passed away on 5 September 2006 at the age of 85. The last few days of his life he was in a hospital bed which my mother had set up in their living room. As a life-long Christian Scientist, he never went to see a doctor for anything, so there is not any official record of any diagnosis of his illness. However, it was obvious to my youngest sister who was helping with his care at the time that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He had been going downhill for the prior several years and when our family visited him a couple of times a year it was obvious that he was not as sharp mentally as he had been all his prior life. He would usually ask me to drive him around town so he could show me the changes in the town, but each time he would take us to the same places that we had gone the prior year. He had good days and bad days – but the last good day was the spring prior to his passing when we drove him to my brother’s house in Manchester for my niece Amy’s graduation party.

What to do with this knowledge?

Documenting the above may seem like just an exercise in investigation, but since the diseases mentioned each carry risks for successive generations, i.e. ME, what steps am I taking to evaluate my own risks? There are three different diseases mentioned above, so let me address each individually.

Heart Disease

I had a massive heart attack myself at age 56 (https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/02/surviving-heart-attack.html). It was much more severe than the mild one my mother had. But where her Christian Science background led her to ignore it as much as possible (only going to the doctor when her sister, my Aunt Vi, insisted), I have annual visits to my cardiologist each year and periodic stress tests to ensure that my heart had no further damage. I take a daily low-dose aspirin as well as a pill that keeps my blood pressure from getting too high (and it continues to be quite good). I also get regular blood tests to monitor my cholesterol, etc. (which is also quite good). While one can never rule out having another one, I’m taking all the necessary steps to prevent it.

Diabetes

I’ve known other people who have lost toes or even legs due to poor circulation which is a consequence of diabetes. It’s not a pleasant experience and I want to avoid it. While I do have type-2 diabetes, I’m taking all the appropriate steps to avoid future consequences. This includes regular medical checkups, medication, and checking for blood circulation in my lower legs and feet (which is quite good). I can’t reverse the neuropathy that I have in the front half of both feet, but I take as good care of them as I can and see my podiatrist every few months.

Alzheimer’s

Following my father’s death, my sister began supporting the Alzheimer’s Association and so did I. Several months ago I became aware of a “GeneMatch” program which was looking for people to enroll in various Alzheimer’s studies. I signed up for it and took a cheek swab to look for the APOE e4 genetic marker which is one of the risk factors for developing Alzheimer’s disease in later life.

A few weeks ago I was invited to enroll in a program at the University of Pennsylvania (in Philadelphia) that is focusing on Alzheimer’s education and the impact of having a brain PET scan to look for higher levels of Amyloids in the brain. I’ll be participating in this study beginning in a few weeks. It will be interesting to find if I have a higher level of Amyloid in my brain. Again, this is not an indication that I have or will develop Alzheimer’s in the future, but is one of many risk factors. But combined with my family history in both my paternal grandmother and my father, it’s something that I need to consider. Stay tuned for later posting on the results.