Granny’s Kids: From family tradition to community event

Gearing up for another meaningful Walk

Jennifer Ching’s six-year-old son is already asking when he can start making his Walk signs.

The IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s in Darlingford isn’t until June, but he’s got plans. He wants to bike around town with his older cousins like he did last year, and he needs his posters ready.

For Jennifer, watching him get excited about the Walk is one of those full-circle moments. She’s been participating in this event for over 20 years now, and somewhere along the way, it became an annual family tradition.

It started with her great aunt Ruth, who participated in some of the very first walks in Morden after her mother had been diagnosed with dementia. Back then, it was mostly just a reason for Jennifer to come home from Winnipeg for the weekend and spend time with family. Her cousins would show up, bring their kids and they’d all walk together under the team name “Granny’s Girls”, which eventually became “Granny’s Kids”.

Over the years, dementia touched more of the family. Jennifer’s two grandmothers, Pat and Jean, were both diagnosed. And this past December, she lost her great aunt Cathie, who had been like a second grandmother to her during the years Jennifer lived in Winnipeg.

By the time Jennifer moved back to Darlingford and had kids of her own, Cathie’s dementia had really progressed. Cathie never got to see Jennifer as a mother — they never got to share that part of their lives together.

“You don’t realize what you lose when somebody gets dementia,” Jennifer says. “I think until you live it, you
really understand.”

So this year, she’ll be walking for Cathie.

The Walk itself has changed over the years. After attending the Walk for many years in Morden, Jennifer’s aunt, Terry, decided to bring the event to Darlingford.

Last year, they opened it up to the wider community. The number of participants tripled. What had been a small family gathering turned into something bigger and the town showed up the way small towns do.

“This isn’t the first time the town pulled together around something important to us,” Jennifer says. “It isn’t something we even think about. It’s just what we do.”

Jennifer has no doubt that after she’s gone, her son will continue rallying with the family at the Walk every year, carrying their handmade posters and signs.