What a weekend it’s been. After a number of very tough weeks, I finally found the space to relax and enjoy myself. Friday saw our event to mark Brother Louis Camilleri’s 100th birthday commemoration. He was a Lasallian Brother. We are working on the Cause for Beatification of this wonderful mentor, saint, and so humble a person.

You knew him Mum and you really took to him. For a time he was head at St. Benild’s School and you often met him in Church. His perpetual spiritual conversation with God never went unnoticed by the parishioners and you always spoke highly of him, for he impressed you as he did to so many others.

You were a very religious person and ensured that you were at the 5.30am Mass every morning.

I admired you for the great energy you had. Up at 5am every day, straight to Mass and then back home to prepare lunch before you set off to the pharmacy for a day’s work. And work you did..always so very hard, especially looking after 3 children, a husband and a house.

Although young, the memories of all these years made an impact on me and as I grew older your influence became greater and clearer.

A person’s life must always be respected. When a person ages and becomes old, we tend to look at them in a different manner…do we push them aside, do we say.. ‘oh she’s old now’ or ‘oh, she doesn’t understand anymore’? Do we decide the elderly are not worth much anymore..they have no use anymore, they are slow, forget, take up too much of our time because they want company and we are too busy? And then, if one has dementia? That is even worse…’do we have any time to spend…doesn’t she have dementia?’ ‘She won’t even remember that I visited..I might as well not go’

How wrong we are …how terribly wrong!

An elderly person, every person, has given their life to society, to their family, to you, to us. How can we just abandon them?

Most of all, have you ever thought that you too will grow old one day? That you too may be pushed aside, discarded like a crumpled paper thrown in a waste paper basket?

A person with dementia who is abandoned by her / his family will pine away and die.

Do you think they do not know that they have been left alone? How wrong you are!

This is why we celebrate the elderly..and anyone else who lives with dementia.. unfortunately there are a number of younger people with dementia, more than we wished and hoped for.

Yesterday, we organised our annual fundraising dinner, which was a great success and enjoyed by all. Thank you to all those who support us! This event is so important for us – althogether we must make our voice heard..we must speak for these people..we must be their eyes, ears and voice.

Next year Malta Dementia Society celebrates its 20th birthday!

We hope to see you ALLLLLLLL THERE!!