The first thing one can say about Frances is that she is a bright, compassionate, creative woman. This has been true from when she was very small and rescued stranded spiders with her dad. It’s been true as she started her own business. And it's still true as she lives through the late stages of Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.
Diagnosed in 2015, the following years have been a mixture of challenges, grace, and an exercise in acceptance. For most of this time, Frances has thrived in her encounters with friends, family, Click! customers and chance encounters along the way. If you ran into her, she likely told you that you looked lovely and how happy she was to see you, and maybe blew you a kiss through her face mask.
At this point Frances has very few words left. The world is a very confusing and often upsetting place for her and her needs have grown to the point where professional care is necessary. Shortly after moving into long term care in April of 2021 she had a fall, fracturing her hip. She will now require a wheelchair as she is unlikely to walk again.
Because of these developments, we’ve decided to come back to this Caring Bridge site to provide regular updates on how she’s doing and what is happening. We will try to update regularly, and add some photos along the way. Feel free to post a comment—we’d love to share your words with her. Or if you have questions, we’ll do our best to respond as soon as possible.
As a side note, on this site there is a button for “Tributes” which allows you to send a donation and a message. To clarify, this donation directly supports the Caring Bridge website. It is NOT a donation for Frances and John. The website is a valuable resource that we are able to use at no charge to us at all.
