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A Story of Alzheimer’s Disease

Seeing the Journey Through From the Heart of an Amboy Woman

Sue Peterson has always taken time for those things in life that matter most to her. She is a wife, mother and a teacher. In every stage of her life she has been able to find fulfillment, even when Alzheimer’s disease changed her and her husband’s lives forever.

Sue taught at the high school in Amboy, Minnesota, for the first 10 years of her married life. She loved to teach but was also anxious to start a family. Sue and Larry were thrilled when they were able to adopt their two children, Sarah and Wade. Sue spent the next 21 years being a stay-at-home mom and helpmate to Larry in their farming business. When the time was right, she not only went back to teaching in Amboy, but also became a student again.

Taking classes for a master’s degree was important to Sue. It was something she had always hoped she would have an opportunity to accomplish. At age 54 she went back to school at Mankato State University and graduated in 1996. With a master’s degree in Reading and Family and Consumer Life Science she had, what she considered, the dream job. But life as she had known it, was about to change.

At age 58, her husband, Larry, started showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

A symptom of Alzheimer’s first appeared about the time of their daughter Sarah’s wedding, when Larry started to become very melancholy. Sue attributed this change in his demeanor to the wedding, since he was very close to their daughter and was having a hard time letting go. In actuality, it was the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s.

The next change came when Larry told Sue he was going to quit farming. This took her by surprise, because Larry had always loved farming and had never mentioned quitting. But his mind was made up, he was going to take a job with Northrup King where he would haul augers to farms. His routes were within a 100-mile radius of Amboy, an area that was very familiar to him. Soon after taking the job, however, Larry started getting lost. On one particular day he drove as far as Des Moines, Iowa, to make a delivery that was intended for a farm three miles from town.

It was then that Sue and Larry went to see Dr. Carolyn Becker at the Mapleton Family Practice Clinic. Dr. Becker is their family doctor and has known them for a very long time. After ruling out other neurological diseases, their worst fear was confirmed — Larry most likely had Alzheimer’s. Dr. Becker was upfront with them about the fact that the disease has no cure. There would be no going back to the kind of life Sue and Larry had shared up until that time.

Sue and Larry enjoyed many good times building their lives together. They were blessed with their children and were doing the things they liked to do. While Sue loved teaching, Larry’s passion was 4-H poultry judging. Larry would judge up to 50 fairs every summer throughout Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. 4-H participants liked his judging style because of his heart for kids. Most first-year poultry members were automatically awarded a blue ribbon. Then, Larry would tell them what he expected from their project the next year. While poultry was just a sideline for Larry, he was devoted to it. He took the poultry project from the back corners of fair barns to the foreground. He was head of the poultry division at the Minnesota State Fair for several years. In recognition of his role in this industry, a display in his honor is at the Clay County Fairgrouds in Spencer, Iowa.

In retirement, Sue and Larry had planned to travel together to poultry shows across the United States. They also hoped for a trip to the world’s largest poultry show in Hanover, Germany. These were some of the dreams Alzheimer’s disease would take away from them.

Despite the upheaval in their lives, Dr. Becker recommended that Sue continue to teach. She also said that at some point, Larry would require nursing home care. For two years, Sue kept her teaching job in Amboy and Larry started going each weekday to Adult Day Care at St. Luke’s Lutheran Home in Blue Earth, Minnesota. It was the start of many frustrating times and unexpected experiences.

Two years before retirement, Sue made the choice to stay home with Larry so she could spend more quality time with her husband. Being at home has given her the time to quiet her life and to become more attuned to their spiritual needs. They have had the chance to talk about issues like death and dying, and both of them take comfort in scripture that gives them hope and confidence as they face the unknown.

Friends and family have been a great help to them as they face the challenges resulting from Alzheimer’s disease. Larry’s best friend since high school, Bill Rennpford, takes him on what Sue refers to as “farmer drives.” They go see how the crops are doing and look for what’s new in the area. Bill’s mother had Alzheimer’s disease, making him very sensitive to what Sue and Larry are going through. Larry’s brother and father and Sue’s sister’s families have also been very helpful. Sue credits them with helping her prepare for their son Wade’s wedding on the farm this past summer.

When asked how she learned to cope with Larry’s illness and all the changes that have occurred, Sue said: “I love children. So I love Larry like my granddaughter. I give him a lot of hugs, a lot of smooches and compliments.” Sue has also leaned on her faith. She always sensed God’s presence, but now her life has become an intimate relationship with God.

Larry continues to get worse. His memory is slipping away more each day. Sue is losing the love of her life. No longer do they have the husband and wife relationship they had shared for more than 39 years. Now it is patient and caregiver. Sue admits that sometimes she is impatient and full of self pity, but that she prays extra hard during those times and God gives her peace.

Sue and Larry Peterson live on their farm south of Amboy. Sue and Larry’s relationship started as high school sweethearts. They have faced good and bad times together and Sue intends to see the journey through.

Sue has chronicled much of their experience with Alzheimer’s disease in a column she writes for The Land magazine. Each of her articles is open and sincere. She shares the painful truths of Alzheimer’s disease that people have kept hidden for years: the changes the patient goes through and the frustrations of the caregiver. Because of this, she is helping many others who are walking in the same shoes. (Read Sue’s October 8, 2004, article on page 30.)

Editor’s Note: My husband Mark introduced me to Sue Peterson’s column in The Land magazine when my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her articles helped me to better understand what my parents were going through. Meeting her for this article was something I had been hoping for since the idea of Womeninc originated. Sue Peterson is a delightful woman and it is a privilege to call her a friend.