Once a week, Arthur Wang comes to spend a few hours with Barbara and Jeff Sikking.
But this is much more than a social call for the Torrey Pines High School junior. Wang is here to bring the gift of comfort and companionship to the Sikkings. He's a youth ambassador with the Alzheimer's Association of San Diego.
“These programs can help relieve the burden for caretakers and other people that need to spend many, many hours taking care of people like this," Wang said.
The caretaker in this case is Barbara, who at the age of 83, now cares for her 81-year-old husband who has Alzheimer’s. Barbara doesn’t call it a burden, more a labor of love.
But, caring for someone in cognitive decline is a full-time job, and that’s where Wang comes in. He has a very personal connection to Alzheimer’s that began long ago. He and his family would travel every year to visit his grandmother in China. But one year, he started noticing changes.
“She kind of forgot me and my other family members. It seemed like she could not recall anyone anymore about who we are and like the connections we had," he said.
That set off a process of discovery. He went online and learned all he could about Alzheimer’s, what causes it and what can be done about it.
“And that’s when I discovered Alzheimer’s San Diego, and they specialize in having these activities that advocate, share about what Alzheimer’s is and how to deal with Alzheimer’s, and I first got interested in their youth ambassador program ... because I wanted to see, you know, what is it like to take care of people who have early forms of dementia or Alzheimer’s and what is it like to do that," Wang said.
Wang is now well-versed in doing that. He and Jeff have developed a routine.
“We like to talk a little bit. We usually like to go one these walks with the dog. I think it’s very important that we go on these walks, especially for physical health, and it’s also a good way to interact with the neighbors, as they’re very friendly ... And then once we finish walking, we come back, and usually at this time, I have my bag of goodies where we have all sorts of brain teasers, puzzles … And then usually after that, we continue to talk, sometimes we like to watch TV and really calm ourselves down, especially after a long walk, we just settle down after that," he said.
The gift of time well spent Wang brings to Jeff is given to Barbara as well.
“It gives me the opportunity to do whatever I want so that I can go up and use my computer with more … in a relaxed way rather than having a constant companion sometimes ... I feel confident that I can go ahead and not put my consciousness, my consciousness can go away from being protective, or concerned, whatever you want to call it, and I can do something else that I needed to do," Barbara said.
But the gift of Wang's visits doesn’t stop there. They are a gift this 16-year-old gives himself.
“With all the other stresses like academics, sports and other activities, this environment of taking care of someone and like interacting with them is very calming for me," Wang said.
As 40th President Ronald Reagan wrote when he shared his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 1994, “In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.”
It’s safe to say that — without even being aware of Reagan’s words, Wang is living them out.
