While mega-millions have been raised to fight cancer and heart disease, the rumbling for recent years has shifted to the health of the gray matter. As one person said Wednesday, May 13, if you don’t have a healthy mind, the rest is secondary.
So, nearly 200 high rollers like Lucy Billingsley, Dianne Cash, Minnie and Bill Caruth, Dan Owen, Lynn McBee, Carol and Don Glendenning, Robin and Norm Bagwell, Diane and Daryl “Moose” Johnston, Stacey and Dan Branch, and Pat and Charles McEvoy put aside the threat of thunderstorms to hear plans for the construction of the Brain Performance Institute, the Center for Brain Health’s facility for clinical programs. Course it helped that the gathering was taking place at Debbie and John Tolleson’s estate with Chef Darren McGrady in the kitchen cooking and entertaining guests and staff.
The rain held off just enough that folks wandered to the terrace overlooking the pool, cabana, catering cottage and the side tennis court just past the fountain.
Eventually at 6:30 all gathered in the living room to hear the presentation. John Tolleson introduced his old business partner/Brain Performance Institute Executive Director Eric Bennett, who admitted that going from wealth management to brain health had been “a big stretch for me!” In regard to brain research and bipolar disease, “we’re at the tipping point,” he said. Eric went on to explain that the Brain Performance Institute will bridge the gap between research and products, with the goal of helping more than 250,000 a year.
Moose then talked about how sports and brain health had changed over the years. No longer are football and boxing regarded as “contact sports.” Rather, he said, they are “collision sports. We no longer say, ‘He got his bell rung.’ Now, my bosses at Fox say, ‘No, he got a traumatic brain injury, and it’s serious.’ ”
Next up was 26-year vet U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Mark Roy, who is now doing the brain training program. “I need this stuff. It kind of gave me my life back,” Roy said. “It made me more effective. I started eating better, too.” But he also emphasized that not all vets have been as fortunate as he — “Two in my unit committed suicide.”
While all were moving and enlightening, it was 60-year-old Phil Craver. who was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, that really hit home. With his wife Nancy Craver standing by his side, he hesitated, appearing a bit uncertain of what he would say. The waver in his voice only emphasized the situation that had challenged him and his family. The former CFO told how the signs of his disease had evidently been apparent for eight years before being diagnosed. Nancy then took the mic from her husband, telling the guests, “Concentrate on what you have left, not what you have lost.”
Looking around the two-story library filled with high rollers and beautiful people, the elegance of the evening had transitioned into a scene of compassion. As they witnessed a man suffering from a neurological disease, they empathized. After all, some had themselves lost family members to the brain disorders. Others wondered if those signs might be part of their future.
Luckily, Capital Campaign Co-Chairs Debbie Francis and Patty Huffines, who have been spearheading the efforts to reach the $33M goal, offered a brighter future. Having already raised $24M, the two blondes said their wish list is for 100 people who will give $100,000 or more.
Adding to the hope in dealing with issues challenging healthy brains, Center for BrainHealth’s Dr. Sandi Chapman reported that the North Texas Center for BrainHealth has become a showplace for professionals and those in need of neurological assistance, including working with vets.
Yes, it was an impressive evening at a showplace with a stellar crowd. But as the sea of baby boomers continues flooding upon society in the days and years to come, it will take such assemblies to provide and energize resources to keep brain health just that …healthy.