300 purple flags in Frederick honor people affected by Alzheimer’s
Assisting Hands Home Care placed 300 purple flags outside its West Patrick Street office to honor people affected by Alzheimer’s and support Frederick’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW
The “Field of Memories” contains 300 purple flags. It is located at 614 W. Patrick St. in Frederick. 164 flags are dedicated to specific people who have or had Alzheimer’s. The display was created for World Alzheimer’s Day. It remains on display through Friday at 5 p.m. People can still sponsor a flag. The suggested donation is $5. Donations support Frederick’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Oct. 11.
Hundreds of purple flags now cover a lawn along West Patrick Street in Frederick, each representing a life touched by Alzheimer’s disease.
The installation, called “Field of Memories,” includes 300 flags outside the Brigadoon office of Assisting Hands Home Care of Frederick and Surrounding Counties at 614 W. Patrick St.
Among them is a flag carrying the name of Lilly Reaver.
Her great-granddaughter, Emmitsburg resident Heather Heier, remembers Reaver tending gardens, caring for her family and teaching her about flowers.
Heier also remembers watching her great-grandmother live with Alzheimer’s for roughly 30 years before her death.
For Heier, the disease eventually changed the relationship she remembered from childhood.
She described the pain of watching someone she loved gradually lose memories that the rest of the family continued to carry.
Reaver is one of 164 people specifically named on flags in the installation. Others contain personal messages or dedications from families affected by Alzheimer’s.
Employees and family members planted the flags Friday, and the display is scheduled to remain in place until Friday at 5 p.m.
The installation was created in recognition of World Alzheimer’s Day and marks the first time Assisting Hands of Frederick has created this type of tribute.
People can still sponsor a flag.
The suggested donation is $5, and donors can provide the name of someone they want honored. According to the source material, donations support Frederick’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, scheduled for Oct. 11.
Assisting Hands employees also plan to participate in that walk.
Caregiver coordinator Tina Workman said the purpose is to give families a visible way to remember people whose own memories may have been affected by the disease.
For families such as Heier’s, each small purple flag represents much more than a name.
It represents the memories that relatives and friends continue carrying for someone they love.
WHAT IT MEANS
The display turns the impact of Alzheimer’s into something visible.
Rather than focusing only on statistics, the flags represent individual people and the families who continue carrying their memories.
The project also connects remembrance with fundraising for local participation in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
How To Participate
People interested in sponsoring a flag can contact Assisting Hands of Frederick at 301-798-9030 and provide the name they would like placed on it.
The source material also lists tinyurl.com/AssistingHandsWalk as the donation page. The suggested contribution is $5.
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