The Alzheimer’s Association presented Nina Garcia, Elle’s Editor in Chief with the Champion Award at the Rita Hayworth Gala where she talked about the difficulties of having a family member with this terrible disease. Her mother battled Alzheimer’s for about 8 years before passing away in 2004.
“I don’t think we ever imagined that it would happen to us,” says Garcia in a video posted by the Alzheimer’s Association.
“She never let the overwhelming difficulties in her life get in the way of her passions or doing the right thing and supporting those whom she loved,” Garcia said about her mother. “It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s that I really understood the gravity of that responsibility. Her disease put everything into context.”
Garcia says that her mother loved magazines, so she inherited that passion from her. “She loved taking care of herself, she loved getting dressed up, she had this incredible confidence.”
