Bob & Jackie On Her 80Th Birthday, February. 24, 2026
By Bob Gatty
My wife, Jackie, has Alzheimer’s disease, and it is robbing her of herself — to the point where she now is living in a memory care facility, where they are skilled in caring for patients with this horrible disease.
She seems happy there — on days that she is awake and aware. On those days, she is much like herself — laughing out loud, joking with the wonderful, dedicated caregivers, eating her food, including fish and green beans, which she always has hated.
“I don’t eat anything with either fins or gills,” she would always tell me. But now, when they serve fried fish, I tell her it’s chicken and she says it’s good.
The green beans? She tolerates them. But she still won’t eat peas, which she says are “fuzzy.”
But then there are the dark days, the days when she is mostly asleep and has to be fed — even with her eyes closed. She eats in her wheelchair, to which she’s confined because she can no longer stand or walk. Her hands are unsteady, but on her good days, her blue eyes are bright and her smile is brilliant and beautiful.
Alzheimer’s is cruel.
On those good days, I’m tempted to think she’s getting better and can come home to me soon. So I make sure the house is always clean and tidy, with plenty of food in the pantry and fridge. Just in case.
But I know the truth. She won’t be coming home. The disease won’t let her.
And so, I must face that horrible fact. Alzheimer’s eventually will win.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three older adults dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. That’s more deaths than breast and prostate Cancer combined. It’s tragic, and what makes it even worse is that the Trump administration’s actions have disrupted research aimed at finding a cure, which today does not exist.
Research Funding Cuts
Across the board, new Alzheimer’s research grants dropped sharply—roughly in half (369 → 177) in one year.
The administration also:
Cancelled or delayed hundreds of NIH grants
Withheld billions in research funding
Changed how grants are paid (reducing how many can be awarded)
Alzheimer’s research wasn’t singled out—but it took a hit along with other medical research (cancer, Mental Health, etc.).
Please Contribute
All of that makes the work of the Alzheimer’s Association much more important than ever. And so, I encourage you to support their efforts to fight Alzheimer’s by contributing today. If you do so before Friday, they’ll send you a special thank-you gift, a purple note pad and pen. That’s extra appropriate, because purple is Jackie’s favorite color.
If you take advantage of this offer, you can dedicate your gift in her honor, or in honor of anyone else suffering from Alzheimer’s, and you can include s special note to them as well.
I hope you will consider doing this. You never know when Alzheimer’s will hit home.
For many years, Bob Gatty worked as a writer, editor, and communications consultant, based on the Washington, DC area with a focus on government and politics. He began at The Pittsburgh Courier, an African American weekly, covering crime and the courts. His salary was $55 per week before moving on to two local Pennsylvania dailies. At age 24, he began reporting for United Press International covering state politics in Pennsylvania and then New Jersey, where he was UPI’s state capitol bureau in Trenton.
Tempted by the allure of Washington, DC and big-time politics, at age 29 Bob became press secretary and chief of staff for two Congressmen – first Republican Edwin B. Forsythe, and then Democrat James J. Florio, who later became governor of New Jersey and until his recent death was a frequent podcast guest and co-host of Bob’s NFN Radio News podcast (now called Lean to the Left).
After seven years on Capitol Hill, Bob opened a communications business in Washington, first providing political media consulting to candidates and then freelance Washington coverage for business and trade magazines, plus creative communications services for trade and professional associations, including social media. This work involved articles and analyses of key governmental developments affecting businesses, such as the food and Health industries, retailing, and the environment.
His work as a communications consultant to trade and professional associations included launching and editing association publications, providing website content and social media assistance, and covering conferences and conventions.
Bob retired from G-Net Strategic Communications in 2016 and moved to Myrtle Beach, SC, where he launched his blog site, first called Not Fake News, now known as Lean to the Left.
Hijacked Nation
In August, 2020, Bob and co-author Chris Waldron, one of Lean to the Left's most loyal and prolific contributor, published "Hijacked Nation-Donald Trump's Attack on America's Greatness," a two-volume compilation of blogs regarding Trump's presidency and the consequences for our nation. A followup volume was published by Luna Global Media in September 2024. It is available at https://amzn.to/4ePrTF7 .
In all three volumes, blogs from Not Fake News and Lean to the Left create a virtual play-by-play of key actions of the Trump administration and Congress. For more information, please visit https://leantotheleft.net/books/, and visit Bob's Author's Page on Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bob-Gatty/author/B08C7HWXZ5?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=4e603563-7251-4074-b54d-40800c4ce40a.
The Lean to the Left Podcast
The Lean to the Left podcast provides commentary and interviews with newsmakers and others with interesting stories to tell. Video and audio podcasts stream twice weekly on major channels. More info at https://podcast.leantotheleft.net.
The Lean to the Left YouTube Channel
You'll find all of the audio tracks for the Lean to the Left Podcast here plus original videos, including complete video versions of each podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/@LeantotheLeft.
All of that makes the work of the Alzheimer’s Association much more important than ever. And so, I encourage you to support their efforts to fight Alzheimer’s by contributing today. If you do so before Friday, they’ll send you a special thank-you gift, a purple note pad and pen. That’s extra appropriate, because purple is Jackie’s favorite color.
