I felt like the world was crashing down around me, until God gave me the gift of running

Caroline Kelly had to face the pain of her dad's illness while caring for young children and felt like she couldn't cope until God gave her an unexpected gift. 

The week had started out strong, but a visit to my parents to take my dad out for coffee hadn’t gone well. Alzheimer’s is a thug. It muscles its way in, takes up space and gradually shuts down the volume of personality; aggressively tearing down memories of children, grandchildren, holidays and events. It steals the joy of a shared private moment, scourging the brain of the ability to make and follow a conversation. Alzheimer’s coupled with vascular dementia is awful.

I left demoralised and with the feeling of having become the parent. Having a parent trusting you to take care of them when it should be the other way around is uncomfortable.