July 11, 2023 – Given last week’s promising news that the FDA has approved the first Alzheimer’s drug proven to slow the disease’s progression, we felt like this caregiver support design with its beautiful backstory was the perfect card to share with caring Cardies today.
Shown with her grandparents Marilyn and Jim Steidle is our youngest Contributing Cardie, Alexandra Ciavarella. At age seven, it was Allie who provided the perfect, loving words for this card.
Let me back up and say that the Steidles are among the nearly seven million American families living with Alzheimer’s. When we were preparing to publish Marilyn’s clever retirement card message back in 2022, we’d asked her if she’d like to dedicate the card to someone. She answered. “‘With love to Jim.’ (Jim is my hubby with Alzheimer’s. Thought we would have many golden retirement years together, but it was not to be.)”
Marilyn went on to offer, “As lighthearted as my retirement message is, on a more serious note, I have been thinking about what a card for caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s might say. Along the lines of ‘thinking of you,’ but more personal, more poignant. A comforting card for those of us in the trenches.”
She shared, “Our little granddaughter Allie, age seven, only knows her ‘Pop’ with Alzheimer’s, and she loves him as is, unconditionally. While he’s now in Memory Care, we’ve told her that he’s away at camp :) In light of his progression, I have been protective of her and have not yet taken her for a visit. When I warned Allie that he might not know her anymore, she never skipped a beat, saying, ‘That’s okay, Mimi, he will remember me in his heart.’ Out of the mouths of babes.”
After reading that, we reached right back out to Allie’s wise and witty Mimi with a mock-up of the card you see and asked if she agreed that her precocious grandchild had just written “the more personal, more poignant and comforting message for those of us in the trenches” that she’d imagined.
“Yes!” Marilyn replied, “I LOVE the card! You may certainly credit Allie for the sentiment. And, for a dedication, I am going out on a limb and offer: For Pop with love now and forever.” And so it is.
As soon as the story of Allie’s card was published in Cardthartic’s Big Book in January 2023, we heard from a tickled Marilyn, “I showed Allie the article about her and Pop in your catalog and, at first, she didn’t know what to make of it. But when it clicked, she asked, ‘Am I famous?!’ What an honor! Better than being a TikTok star and gives her great ‘street cred,’” Marilyn teased.
Proud Mimi reported that our youngest Contributing Cardie “took ‘her card’ and one of the catalogs to school and became an instant celebrity. At lunch, she was allowed to share it with the student body (K-4) with a special announcement by one of the ‘lunch ladies.’ The kids were understandably clueless, but many of the staff were tickled because they were former students of ‘Pop’ or knew of him from his teaching career in the district. Her teacher displayed the article outside the classroom door for any and all interested parties, and Allie has been encouraging everyone to ‘Order from the book!’”
As for Mimi, she considers the card message Allie inspired, “Perfect and so appropriate. It conveys a sentiment that I often write in notes to folks who are in the midst of caregiving, but the card form is more beautiful and personal.”
Case in point, we heard from Contributing Cardie Lauren Rowell that she’d sent Allie’s card for Pop – along with the Big Book story — to her friend Judy who is caring for her husband with Alzheimer’s in their home. Yesterday, Judy emailed Lauren to say she was surprised to see that there is a card especially for caregivers, and was touched by the story behind the card message. “Dear Lauren, you do have a gift for sending just the right message at just the right time!”
How often have you heard the same praise from friends of yours? And, if you’re like me, how often have you also gone about your business, wrapped up in your own life, without too much thought for what Marilyn and Judy — my own friends Carla and Mary — all the caregivers in those seven million American families living with Alzheimer’s face on any given day. Allie has given us a lovely, soothing message to send them.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
July 11, 2023 – Given last week’s promising news that the FDA has approved the first Alzheimer’s drug proven to slow the disease’s progression, we felt like this caregiver support design with its beautiful backstory was the perfect card to share with caring Cardies today.
Shown with her grandparents Marilyn and Jim Steidle is our youngest Contributing Cardie, Alexandra Ciavarella. At age seven, it was Allie who provided the perfect, loving words for this card.
Let me back up and say that the Steidles are among the nearly seven million American families living with Alzheimer’s. When we were preparing to publish Marilyn’s clever retirement card message back in 2022, we’d asked her if she’d like to dedicate the card to someone. She answered. “‘With love to Jim.’ (Jim is my hubby with Alzheimer’s. Thought we would have many golden retirement years together, but it was not to be.)”
Marilyn went on to offer, “As lighthearted as my retirement message is, on a more serious note, I have been thinking about what a card for caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s might say. Along the lines of ‘thinking of you,’ but more personal, more poignant. A comforting card for those of us in the trenches.”
She shared, “Our little granddaughter Allie, age seven, only knows her ‘Pop’ with Alzheimer’s, and she loves him as is, unconditionally. While he’s now in Memory Care, we’ve told her that he’s away at camp :) In light of his progression, I have been protective of her and have not yet taken her for a visit. When I warned Allie that he might not know her anymore, she never skipped a beat, saying, ‘That’s okay, Mimi, he will remember me in his heart.’ Out of the mouths of babes.”
After reading that, we reached right back out to Allie’s wise and witty Mimi with a mock-up of the card you see and asked if she agreed that her precocious grandchild had just written “the more personal, more poignant and comforting message for those of us in the trenches” that she’d imagined.
“Yes!” Marilyn replied, “I LOVE the card! You may certainly credit Allie for the sentiment. And, for a dedication, I am going out on a limb and offer: For Pop with love now and forever.” And so it is.
As soon as the story of Allie’s card was published in Cardthartic’s Big Book in January 2023, we heard from a tickled Marilyn, “I showed Allie the article about her and Pop in your catalog and, at first, she didn’t know what to make of it. But when it clicked, she asked, ‘Am I famous?!’ What an honor! Better than being a TikTok star and gives her great ‘street cred,’” Marilyn teased.
Proud Mimi reported that our youngest Contributing Cardie “took ‘her card’ and one of the catalogs to school and became an instant celebrity. At lunch, she was allowed to share it with the student body (K-4) with a special announcement by one of the ‘lunch ladies.’ The kids were understandably clueless, but many of the staff were tickled because they were former students of ‘Pop’ or knew of him from his teaching career in the district. Her teacher displayed the article outside the classroom door for any and all interested parties, and Allie has been encouraging everyone to ‘Order from the book!’”
As for Mimi, she considers the card message Allie inspired, “Perfect and so appropriate. It conveys a sentiment that I often write in notes to folks who are in the midst of caregiving, but the card form is more beautiful and personal.”
As it happens, last week our Cardie Coordinator Lauren Rowell sent Allie’s card for Pop – along with the Big Book story — to her friend Judy who is caring for her husband with Alzheimer’s in their home. Yesterday, Judy emailed Lauren to say she was surprised to see that there is a card especially for caregivers, and was touched by the story behind the card message. “Dear Lauren, you do have a gift for sending just the right message at just the right time!”
How often have you heard the same praise from friends of yours? And, if you’re like me, how often have you also gone about your business, wrapped up in your own life, without too much thought for what Marilyn and Judy — my own friends Carla and Mary — all the caregivers in those seven million American families living with Alzheimer’s face on any given day. Allie has given us a lovely, soothing message to send them.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Love this story and card!
Having recently learned this simple, but powerful technique for working with people who have some form of dementia, I’m going to try to share this link to a short video about hand-under-hand contact as developed by Teepa Snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFrtnG6-fkU
Wish I had known about it long ago!
How beautiful Allie is, inside & out. She inspired a wonderful card & should feel famous. I’ll bet her Mimi gets a kick out of her every day.
My dear husband died of Lewy Body Dementia in 2016. I am pleased you offer care giver cards, and have sent many. I will continue to do so because i know how appreciated I would have felt, had I ever received one.
To the caregivers of loved ones with memory issues my heart goes out to you.
As a senior I feel pain when I witness a few of my friends whose wonderful, passionate minds, that I have admired for decades, start to slip away.
It is a painful loss. They are here and yet they are not.
That is the reason I admire these caregivers’ strength and caring.
Laura – I am certain your caregiving was appreciated back in 2016, as it is now, even if those around you couldn’t find the words to express it.
May we all be filled with hope & the belief, as Allie is, that we still live on in their hearts.
Sweet Allie! I think so many of us know someone caring for those with dementia so these cards are lovely to send for support.
Thanks to all of you at Cardthartic, especially you Jodee, from a distant cousin here in Champaign County, Il who is now caring for a husband with dementia-Alzheimer’s disease. Caregiving is a tough way to spend our retirement years but we do as we are called to do with all the love in our hearts.
What a sweet surprise to see our Allie in print yet again. Sadly, we lost Pop on April 21. He passed much as he lived; quietly, peacefully, surrounded by love. Allie, her sister and brother and six cousins all contributed to his beautiful funeral Mass with readings, bearing gifts, greeting hordes of friends, relatives, former students, and former players he coached over the years. It was a beautiful day; I always knew he was beloved in our town, but the turnout was astonishing. I am at peace, no regrets. Thank you for all your kind words and sentiments over this past year. Allie continues to be a source of fun and amazement. Early on Saturday morning after Jim passed, she had an ugly cry at the kitchen island, curled up with me on the sofa and asked, “Mimi, so now are you single”.