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  • Approved for CNN

    • Click to view nealmoore's profile
    Posted November 2, 2009 by
    nealmoore |
    Location
    Oxford, Mississippi
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    Neal Moore canoes the Mississippi

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    Beth's Bucket List: The Interview

    By nealmoore  |  Posted November 2, 2009  |  Oxford, Mississippi
     

    CNN PRODUCER NOTE     nealmoore met this couple on his journey along the Mississippi River. He told me, 'Both Beth and her husband Jay have shown me the need to live for each day, to harness the courage to realize our dreams, and in so doing, to make each and every day we have on this earth count.'
    - hhanks, CNN iReport producer

    Beth's Bucket List: The Interview

     

     

    By NEAL MOORE

     

    OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI (CNN iReport)

     

    When Beth and Jay VanWinkle saw that their favorite actor, fellow Mississippian Morgan Freeman, was coming out with a new movie titled “The Bucket List”, Beth turned to Jay and said, “I’ve got to see that.” One year previous, Beth VanWinkle had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and has been, as she puts it, “grasping at everything I could get [out of life - before it's too late].”

     

    The film inspired Beth and Jay to write down a short list of ideas that they wanted to accomplish before Beth permanently goes into, what she describes as her “cave” – a place where she will be all alone in her very own world.

     

    Beth’s list included three things she had never before had the opportunity to do: 1) Meet actor Morgan Freeman – when she has done; 2) Skydive out of an airplane – which she has now accomplished twice; and 3) Have the opportunity to ride a horse.

     

    In this report, Beth and Jay discuss their acceptance of Beth’s condition, how they are coping and living each day to its fullest, as well as of their advice for the 5.3 million other Americans who are currently struggling against Alzheimer's.

     

    In the second portion of this piece, Dr. Jo Ann O'Quin, speaks of the importance to find a cure as well as of her friendship with Beth and Jay VanWinkle.

     

    To view Beth leading the first annual Oxford Memory Walk along with the realization of the final item on her bucket list - to ride a horse - please click here: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-349277

     

     

     

    Follow the journey…

     

    Blog: http://www.flashriversafari.com

     

    Foundation: http://www.creativevisions.org

     

    iReport: http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=321427

     

    Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mooreneal

     

     

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