Spring Break 2018 was truly a great one!
Me and Coach and the kids enjoyed a positively perfect week of relaxing family time…
We made it to Spring Training for our Houston Astros:
We spent some quality time on the beach, which included reading:
And practicing a little yoga:
And, of course, playing some catch:
We didn’t set a morning alarm for 5 straight days, and we spent the evenings playing cards, enjoying movies, and simply slowing down for a few minutes to take a deep breath and enjoy being together as a family.
Meanwhile, the Alzheimer’s Association was having quite a week itself, both in Washington as well as in Oklahoma…
- Oklahoma HJR 2014, a resolution presented to the House by Representative Cyndi Munson and to the Senate by Senator Ervin Yen was passed by both the Oklahoma House and Senate declaring Alzheimer’s a Public Health Crisis in Oklahoma. This may seem like a small step, but in actuality it’s a big leap in the right direction!
- Oklahoma HB 2514 has been approved by the Floor Leader, Senator Greg Treat, to move to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee for consideration. This is the bill that I was advocating to get passed when I spent a day at the capital in OKC. That day we witnessed government in action as Representative Cyndi Munson and Senator Ervin Yen introduced the bill, and it passed the House vote with flying colors. Now it will move to committee and from there to the state Senate for final vote…#VoteYESonHB2514
- On Tuesday, March 20th, the Alzheimer’s Association released their 2018 Facts and Figures. This annual report is an update on where we stand in fighting this disease, and while the death toll and diagnosis rates have only gone up, knowledge is power; therefore, it is critically important that we read, understand, and share all we know…#Every65Seconds.
- On Wednesday, March 21st, the U.S. Congress, in its final appropriations negotiations for fiscal year 2018, included a $414 million increase for Alzheimer’s and dementia research in its spending plan for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and today, Friday, March 23rd, it was finalized and signed into law. Oklahomans should be very proud of Representative Tom Cole who is a major voice on our behalf, one of our very best national advocates to #endALZ, and a driving force behind this historic budget victory. This brings annual research funding to $1.8 billion which is knocking on the door of the $2 billion per year that scientists have said is necessary to eliminate this disease. Please, please take 30 seconds to thank your congressional representatives for supporting this critical funding bill: Click here to send an email of thanks.
- Last – but certainly not least – the Alzheimer’s Association is very excited to announce that another one of our priorities — Kevin and Avonte’s Law — has been signed into law. Kevin and Avonte’s Law reauthorizes the Missing Americans Alert Program to help local law enforcement officials quickly identify people with Alzheimer’s who wander and reunite them with their families.
If you are already receiving Alzheimer’s updates and information, I am sure you’ve been grinning at your inbox just like I have this week. If you aren’t getting the updates, please join AIM, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement. It involves only a $20 annual membership fee, and we need you as a member. The greater the number who join, the clearer the message to Congress that America deserves and demands that we as a nation properly care for those living with Alzheimer’s, that we actively support their caregivers, and that we make finding treatments and then a cure a top priority.
Well, friends, I will step off my soapbox and leave you with my heartfelt hope that you, too, have had a fabulous Spring Break 2018…and maybe a few ocean outtakes 
Love and hugs,
Ashli