Short Film

Many of you might have already seen this video on social media platforms last week.  Your heart warming comments have been life affirming.

I would like to take a few moments of your time to give the back story concerning this short film.

Back in October of 2021, I did a live podcast with, Being Patient.  That footage got to a TV producer who was working on a series about Love under trying circumstances.  It was decided that they start filming while Cat and I did the Mesa 10k In February the following year.  Turns out, while there, we were able to meet up with several friends from previous racing events.

They followed us to Cat’s 4 month neurology appointment and then were able to interview my sister and son, while we were in Virginia on Vacation.  They also went to Bloomington, Indiana to interview Cat’s daughter.  It was to be a 6 part series and we were able to get our segment filmed when it was decided not to move forward with the project.  The producer was allowed to edit our segment.

That was over a year ago and frankly, even though I was very disappointed, around the same time Cat was experiencing seizures.  I put this on the shelf as I worked through the new issue with her, Early Onset Alzheimer’s.  Glad to say it has now been over 3 months since her last seizure and wrote about it in a blog post, Seizures and Proper Hydration.

As we settled in at “The Brook” as I affectionately call our community, I started playing a slideshow of our pictures on the TV using a fire stick. I also have music playing in the background while we eat breakfast each morning.  Recently I had a conversation with my sister and she brought up her disappointment on the series project.  I downloaded the short film to a USB that Cat’s sister had given us.  We play pictures of her childhood on the TV from time to time.  

I have actually only watched it once in its entirety on my laptop since the emotions were too strong for me to handle.  I was unable to move past who Cat was in that film as opposed to who she is now.  With the slideshow pictures I have been able to move past that with the thoughts of fond memories and not dwell on the changes I have seen.  As someone once said.  “She is still there.”

I plugged it into the TV and played it for the first time, last week and of course my reaction was once again overwhelming.  When Cat heard my voice she looked up at the TV and smiled and I was then finally able to watch it in its entirety, however I still cried throughout.  I figured out how to download to YouTube and sent it to my kids.  My son that is in it posted it to FaceBook and tagged me and the rest is history.

Thanks for all your great, heart felt comments, since those will be there forever. When the day might not go as planned I will always we able to go back and read them.  We all have our own stories of trials and tribulations and we all handle them in our own way.  As you have seen we have chosen moments of joy versus despair.  I am so grateful to each of you that have touched our lives along the way.  If you know anyone that might be struggling with ALZ or any other life altering disease please share with them.

Enjoy

Tony and Cat

The post Short Film first appeared on Running With Cat.

Anthony Copeland-Parker Tony

Anthony L. Copeland-Parker was a professional Pilot/Manager for thirty-seven years, the last twenty-seven with United Parcel Service. His last job had him managing pilots and flying B757/767-type aircraft all over the world. When he retired, he began writing his blog, RunningwithCat.com. Since then, he and his partner Catherine have traveled to eighty-two different countries. They have run at least a half-marathon in thirty-five countries and on all seven continents. This is his third book, the first being Running All Over the World, Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer’s, published by Newman Springs Publishing. The second is an abridged version published by Morgan James Publishing.