Here's one thing we've learned since we started SAF in June: In general, people don't "get" young-onset Alzheimer's. With the exception of a short story here, or a quick write-up there, you don't hear about young-onset in your daily life. Even the Alzheimer's Association, for all the great work they do, has admitted to me that they don't do enough for the young onset patients. They have to spend their money where it will have the biggest impact, which for them, means working primarily with those dealing with traditional Alzheimer's.

The fact is, with only 500,000 people in the US believed to be dealing with YOAD (many of those being undiagnosed cases), it's too small a sampling for it to warrant any sort of major media coverage, or public service announcements. That lack of information leads to what I will politely refer to as "ignorance."

Just yesterday, a friend of mine, and a supporter of SAF, posted a link to this story on his Facebook page. The video is a moving two minutes that takes a look inside the disease, as a man of only 52 talks about losing his abilities, losing his career and friends, and trying to focus on the time he has left with his young children. The clip then shows a classic YOAD moment, as the subject, while trying to explain some of what he deals with, simply stops talking, physically unable to finish his sentence.

Shortly after the clip was posted, somebody commented with a joke about not remembering the person who posted the clip. As Alzheimer's jokes go, I've heard better. But the disrespect shown by making that weak attempt at a joke just made me realize that her thoughts were likely those of a large percentage of our population. She likely was just trying to be funny, and I get that. But had she known more about the disease, had she seen it at some point in her life, or had she taken the time to think before she spoke, I'd like to think she would have avoided that comment. Had that story been about a man with Cancer, would she have made a joke about him losing his hair from the chemo?

And so, after a long night of thought, planning, wondering, and hoping, I've decided that I'll make this announcement today.

SAF is now in the prep stage of launching an awareness campaign focused on YOAD: What it is, how it works, the damage it does, the needs it creates, and how people can help. We'll be the first to focus an entire marketing campaign on YOAD, so there are going to be serious challenges. We'll start with some personal YouTube videos, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, etc. From there, we'll hope to raise funds that will allow us to make use of radio and television in some of the major markets across the country. Our plan is that, while you drive to work, or watch TV, at some point in the near future, you'll see a message from us.

The campaign is called "Stealing the Future." When most think of Alzheimer's, they think of it as a disease that erases the past. With YOAD, the past is indeed ripped away from it's victim, but what many don't realize is that it's also stealing away decades of memories still to be made. My mom had three grandkids when she passed, with a fourth born two years after. She didn't get to watch them grow and learn. She didn't get to teach them cross stitching. She didn't get to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary. She didn't get to enjoy retirement with my dad. And YOAD took all those future memories away from us - her family - as well.

We'll obviously keep you updated as the site gets close to launching, and our YouTube and Facebook pages get set up. We'll also be setting up a special donation point, where interested people can give to help us get the message on the air. This will be a seperate issue from SAF, and 100% - every penny - of what's raised will go directly to the marketing costs that we're sure to encounter in the future.

Keep checking here, and at www.stealingthefuture.org, and please feel free to email me at any time for more information.