President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month in 1983. At the time, fewer than 2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s; today, the number of people with the disease has soared to nearly 5.4 million (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). The Author Community of Helping Hands Press is getting involved in November, and hopes to help raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.

Starting Nov. 3^rd, with Anne Baxter Campbell’s blog post and Sue Badeau’s appearance on blogtalk radio, and finishing on Nov. 25^th with Mark Venturini’s blog post, many of the authors in the Helping Hands Press Community will be sharing their personal stories.

Take time to tour the blogs and increase your awareness.

Here is the list:

Nov.3^rd-Anne Baxter Campbell- http://pewperspective.blogspot.com/

Nov.4^th –Doris Gaines Rapp- http://dorisgainesrapp.blogspot.com/

Nov.5^th-Marcia Lee Laycock- http://marcialeelaycock.com/thespur/

Nov. 6th –Ruth L. Snyder- https://ruthlsnyder.com/

Nov. 7^th –Sheila Seiler Lagrand- http://sheilalagrand.com/

Nov. 8^th –Giovanni Gelati- http://gelatisscoop.blogspot.com/

Nov. 10^th –Cindy Noonan- http://www.cindynoonan.com/

Nov. 11^th-Sue Badeau- http://suebadeau.webs.com/apps/blog/

Nov. 12^th-Peggy Blann Phifer- http://www.whispersinpurple.com/

Nov. 13^th-Sandy Sieber- http://pahistorybooks.blogspot.com/

Nov. 13^th– Joy Ross Davis- http://joyrossdavis.com/blog/

Nov.14^th –Karen Gass- http://www.cottonspice.net/

Nov. 17^th –Patti J. Smith- http://gridirongrannyfootballfanatic.blogspot.com/

Nov. 18^th-Tracy Krauss- http://www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.com/

Nov.19^th –Melanie M. Jeschke- http://melaniejeschke.blogspot.com/

Nov. 20^th-Richard L. Allen – http://www.christianwritergroup.com

Nov.21^st– Andrea J. Graham- http://www.christsglory.com/

5 Minute Friday

Leave is a word that has negative connotations for me. I spent the early years of my life as a missionary kid – my parents were missionaries in southern Africa until I was 11. To be a missionary family, you LEAVE many things and people you love to serve God. I came to hate the word, “Goodbye,” because that meant that we were LEAVING again. Leaving friends, leaving familiar places, leaving things I enjoyed.

Now that I’m older, I realize that leaving doesn’t have to be negative. Sometimes we NEED to LEAVE things behind – bad habits, sin, choices that aren’t the best. When we are willing to leave these things behind, it frees us to be the person we should be.

I’m grateful for God’s patience. (And now it’s time for me to leave this exercise, because the timer’s ringing!)

5 Minute Friday is a weekly challenge for bloggers to write for (you guessed it) 5 minutes on a given word. No editing. No deleting (it’s HARD!). If you would like to join me and other amazing 5 minute free writing friends, please visit Kate’s blog and linkup!