The
Rev. Tracey Lind, a retired Episcopal priest, will speak at Bellarmine University on Monday, November 5, about her experience living with dementia.
The presentation - titled "Dementia from the Inside Out" - takes place in the George G. Brown Center's Frazier Hall at 7 p.m. The event, organized by the university's College of Health Professions, is free and open to the public. [
campus map]
Lind's wife, Emily Ingalls, will join her on stage to speak about dementia from a caregiver's perspective.
Rev. Tracey Lind
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Lind, 64, served as Dean of Cleveland's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral from 2000 to 2017. In November 2016, she was diagnosed with the early stages of frontotemporal degeneration. There is currently no cure or effective treatment for this disease, which affects behavior, language and movement. It is the most common form of dementia for people under age 60.
"For 30 years, I've preached that out of pain comes joy, out of brokenness comes wholeness, and out of death comes new life," Lind wrote in a
recent Cleveland Plain Dealer op-ed column. "I am determined to live that now as I face the challenges of dementia."
Before Monday's public event, Lind will meet with students in Bellarmine's
doctor of physical therapy and
senior living leadership programs to help them better understand aspects of their studies related to aging and dementia.
"Recognizing that dementia can affect all of us -- including our friends and family members -- raising awareness is critical, especially as Louisville is working hard to become the aging care capital of the world," said Dr. Tony Brosky, dean of the college's School of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences. We are grateful to be hosting Rev. Lind and Emily, and honored to have them spend some time with our students and our community."
While in Louisville, Lind will also preach at
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church on Sunday, November 4, during their 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. services.
"Dementia is in my DNA," Lind wrote. "My mother, maternal grandfather and two aunts all died with it. I watched my mother and others hide their dementia, ashamed and embarrassed, as if it were a weakness, a punishment, or even a sin... I refuse to live with dementia on those terms. For me, denial isn't useful; honesty is important; early diagnosis can result in a higher quality of life; and transparency makes life easier for everybody involved."
Prior to entering seminary, Lind worked for a decade in nonprofit management, city planning and community organizing.
Emily Ingalls
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Lind is the author of "
Interrupted by God: Glimpses from the Edge," which will be available for purchase at the event. In 2014, she presented a widely viewed TEDx Talk entitled “
How I Met God in a McDonald’s.”
Ingalls spent more than 20 years in commercial real estate and project management. She was an early proponent of sustainable buildings. In 2000, she championed the “greening” of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, helping to create the city's first sustainable building.
She has served on several Northeast Ohio civic boards, including the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes and Facing History and Ourselves. She is an avid gardener, a beginner birder and an aspiring cook.
Ingalls has a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and an MBA from Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University.
Lind and Ingalls live in Cleveland.