Alachua woman takes mother with Alzheimer’s on bucket list trip

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ALACHUA, Fla. (WCJB) - It’s not every day you get to watch someone live out their dream, but when Diana Dodds learned her mother’s Alzheimer’s was getting worse, she knew the time to complete her mother’s bucket list was now.

“Every Christmas she would buy me national park books because she really wanted to see as many national parks as she could,” said Dodds.

So to make that happen, Dodds packed up her minivan on June 14th to hit the road, but not without the one who inspired the idea.

“My kids wanted to go see New Orleans so we started heading to New Orleans and my mom did so well.”

Diana’s mother, Pat Mclaurin, or Mamaw Pat, has been living with Alzheimer’s for about ten years. But in February, doctors told her she may only have three months to live.

“I packed everything I thought we would need. I packed a microwave and a tea kettle just in case because I have to be able to have warm, soft foods for her.”

She said because her mom’s Alzheimer’s causes her to forget things that she’s known for years, seeing brand new places has done wonders for her.

“Every morning when she woke up it was a new place, but to her it was comforting because she knew it was supposed to be a new place,” said Dodds.

From driving down Route 66, to visiting the Grand Canyon, Dodds is making sure her mom crosses every item off her bucket list; and Mamaw Pat gets to do it all with her grandchildren Ethan and Leela.

“She really, really, enjoyed the giant sequoias I think more than anything because we were so close,” said Dodds. “We were sitting in the forest at the base of the trees and I took a picture of her next to a tree and she was just all lit up and smiling.”

The caravan of four is now in San Francisco, checking off those bucket list items one stop at a time.

The family is raising funds for a cure through the Alzheimer’s Association. If you would like to donate, click here.

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