Kate's memory is amazing, some days.

Kate and I were at a fundraiser Walk for Autism on a chilly Sunday morning. We had gotten there early to help set up and Kate was busy helping stack the coffee cups to give away and tape the signs. It was colder than I thought so I was just walking back to my car to get a jacket when I saw a familiar face walking towards me.

Cliff Hoffman and his family attended a church we previously attended, Skokie Valley Baptist Church. Cliff is an avid bike rider and he would stop by our house once in awhile for a Black Cow after we moved on to Cornerstone Church. He and I were friends on Facebook so he knew that we would be a the walk, and the staging area was walking distance from his house.

As we walked towards Kate together I was hopeful that she would remember him without any prompts - and she didn't let me down. As we got closer you could see her looking at us and you could almost see the roladex in her brain spinning as she was searching to put his face with a name. As we got closer we heard her says, "Cliff?" She sure enough remembered him and joy on his face was beaming. Of course after that I was chopped liver - she only wanted to be with her buddy Cliff.

Cliff had been involved in a rather serious bike accident and he was starting to get a headache. So before we started the walk on the trails, he said his good-byes and headed back home. 

Sometimes the memory of that girl is just amazing. The 2.5 mile walk was on the bike trails through the forest preserve in Cook County. Kate was walking, and talking, holding my hand when she looks at me said, "I broke my glasses here." It took me a minute to realize what we was talking about.

When Sarah was a Girl Scout in grade school, Kate, Patty and I would tag along to be helpers to the leader. One of these times we were walking on a bike trail, very similar to the ones we were on that day, and Kate stepped off the side of the trail and fell onto the gravel area... and broke her glasses.

So even if she has no idea what time is, or how long it is until the next month or Christmas, or the answer to the question she asked 5 minutes ago for the 100th time, her memory for people and places is remarkable. And again she used her memory to share her joy with her old buddy Cliff on a chilly day in May. She still sends him videos on Facebook, telling him she misses him or get well, or Happy Birthday. Thanks for sharing the joy Kate. And thank you Cliff for loving my Kate.