Imagine having Alzheimer’s take over your closest loved one and framing it as “The Incredible Journey”! That’s been Patti Hanrath’s response over the past four years as her husband, Joe, has fairly rapidly ‘disappeared’ due to early onset of this disease.
The first red flag that something was wrong was easily chalked up to stress and perhaps fatigue; but the second clear sign came only a couple of weeks later as Patti and Joe were playing a card game with friends.
It took the medical community nearly a year to accurately diagnose what Joe was experiencing, and while it was devastating, it was also a relief. Patti says, “It was a relief to know what we were actually dealing with… it was finally concrete.” And the knowing allowed them to make decisions about how they would move forward before they found themselves in crisis-mode.
In their early 50’s, they were empty-nesters and in a place financially to do the things they’d been wanting to do: travel, experience life, spend more time with their kids and grandkids, set money aside for later, and continue to do the work in the businesses each of them had built and enjoyed doing. But in that first moment when Joe became frustrated attempting to make a simple math calculation – something he did many times a day, every day, for most of his adult life… all of that was gone.
Change has been more pronounced in their lives as a result. They closed Joe’s custom home building business and sold their own dream home and moved into town where they are closer to friends, family, and resources. All along the way, Patti has been proactive in seeking and asking for help in a variety of forms, so from the outside looking in, the journey has been smooth, thoughtfully planned, and not marked by what we usually imagine when we think of how one would deal with this situation.
But what one sees from the outside is not the truth of what’s going on inside. As her role in Joe’s life shifted from wife to caregiver, Patti set two goals: To ensure Joe had the very best care possible, and that she ‘would not go down with the ship.’ She’s allowed herself time and space to mourn their losses at each step along the way, to focus on living moment-to-moment and day-by-day, and to frame everything she’s experiencing as a lesson she needs to learn that is, in some way, preparing her for the next season in her life.
They hit a significant turning point recently, when Joe reached a stage of needing more full-time care than Patti could give, as the situation was becoming debilitating to her health, as well. And in that moment, they received a miracle.
The story is ongoing, and it’s already bearing fruit. Her experience is allowing Patti to develop and share lessons and tools that can help others “Thrive through Adversity,” which she is using in her Coaching and Leadership Development practice.
To learn more, listen in on today’s conversation, then look Patti up:
Kinergy Leadership
Connect by email (patti@kinergyleadership.com)
Patti’s Bio
Patti Hanrath has been on a lifelong journey of learning; doing it her way. Early in life she learned the importance of mentorship, being mentored and mentoring others.
After a twenty-four-year career of leading customer service teams in the Banking industry, she became a leadership coach and started her own business, Kinergy Leadership. Patti’s passion now is to come along side professional women who are going through some kind of life adversity. Through her own experiences and her training as a Leadership Coach, she helps them navigate their own journey to Live Life Fully and Boldly.
Influenced by both her Grandmother and her Father, she came to understand that you reap what you sow. Today, it is her children and grandchildren that inspire her by giving back to her what she provided for them: love, support and encouragement.
It is her journey with her husband Joe, who is living with Alzheimer’s, at the early age of 57, that has brought her to understand the true impact of Living Life Fully.
In the words of one of her clients:
“Patti is an example of living fully to the highest degree. She navigates life with admirable grace.”
