Look for the purple, help fight to KO Alzheimer’s

They’re beautiful pictures, but almost too hard to behold, for they don’t just tear at his heart; they rupture it, ripping again at wounds that have never begun to heal since the death of his wife.

One is a wordless tableau, the picture worth a thousand words.

His son-in-law had to work Saturday, so he couldn’t be with his young family when they went to Gillette Stadium to join multitudes of kindred spirits in the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

But he was determined to be with them in spirit, so as he quietly backed out of his driveway he texted his wife, telling her to look outside.

He had graced their yard with buckets of radiant purple mums.

Purple represents those who have lost loved ones to this punishing, merciless disease.

The other picture showed his five grandkids holding the purple plastic flowers they had waved in honor of the grandmother they’d never know, at least not on this side of heaven.

Alzheimer’s has no monopoly on inflicting grief. Any disease can do it: Cancer. ALS. Coronary. Diabetes. It’s a vicious, evil lineup.

But what makes this disease so wretched is that it delights in attacking memory while assaulting dignity; indeed, its vilest signature is to make its victims total strangers to those who love them most, a cruelty that’s unspeakable.

And it doesn’t care whose home or family it strikes.

It claimed the life of Ronald Reagan, forcing Nancy to endure what she described as “a very long goodbye.”

Is it an obsession to still be so consumed by thoughts like these?

No. The more you loved, the more you lost, and that never stops hurting.

So he’s at Joe DeNucci’s funeral last week. Alzheimer’s claimed Joe, too. Our state auditor for 24 years, he had previously been a ferocious middleweight contender.

As the service went on a thought emerged: “Lord, if you could feed 4,000 with just a few fish and seven loaves of bread, surely you could force Alzheimer’s to lace on gloves and get into the ring with a young and healthy Joey. That would make it a fair fight this time, one that would be over in seconds.”

But that’s emotion, coming from the heart, not the head.

Here’s what is real. The rest of this month, around the state and throughout the country, there’ll be Walks to End Alzheimer’s. Look for the purple.

And if you’d like to climb into that ring, too, just send a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011.