My name is Chloe and I was born on the 14th December 2003 of Maltese and Poodle parents. I was the smallest in my family and was always picked on by my brothers and sisters. Two months after I was born I was sent to a pet shop so someone could buy me. A lovely lady named Sue came to the shop and instantly fell in love with me and so Sue and her husband Ken adopted me and became my new mummy and daddy. Mummy named me Chloe and I also got new 2 legged sisters, Bindi, Kylee and Heidi to love.
What I did not know at the time is that Sue was developing an awful illness call early onset dementia and Ken was very happy that Sue now had her own little pal to love and spend time with as she slowly forgot all the things that she once knew. Sue and I would spend the day playing and then walking with ken in the afternoons. I had lots of fun and loved my mummy and daddy.
One day mummy got very sick with her dementia and she had to leave home and go to hospital. Ken was very sad and told me that mummy would not be able to come home again to be with them. Ken would take me to the hospital each day to see mummy. I got to know lots of other people in the hospital that were sick like mummy, except they were all a lot older. Each day I would spend time with my new friends and then come and sit with daddy and mummy until it was time to go home.
One very sad day, Ken told me mummy Sue had died. She was a beautiful kind lady only 55 years old that had brought joy and love to everyone who she had met. Daddy Ken, my sisters and I have missed her so much.
After mummy Sue died, Ken was very sad but my sisters and I kept him from being lonely. Daddy and I live in a nice house together and spent lots of time playing and walking and going places.
When Ken was young he rode a motorbike and Sue would ride with him. After they got married and had a family, Ken and Sue stopped riding but always said that when they got old they would travel Australia on a motorbike.
One day daddy came home with a big new motorbike and said he was going to keep to his dream of riding Australia. Each Sunday he would go for rides but said he always missed me not being with him. Daddy is very smart so he made me a special seat for the back of our bike. It has a seat-belt so I am safe if we go fast and I am protected from the wind, although I like it when my ears flap. My daddy and I have now travelled over 180000 kilometres together to lots of places in Australia living the dream. Sometimes we ride alone and sometimes with our friends from the Ulysses club, a group of nice people over the age of 40 who also love to ride motorbikes.
On our rides lots of nice people have asked how they can help people with dementia like my mummy had, and I got the idea to start a little charity called ‘I Ride With Chloe to Fight Dementia’. Daddy has had some nice badges and patches made up for me to sell because us bikers like badges and patches to pin and sew on our jackets and all the money I raise will go to help Alzheimer’s Australia WA continue their important work. You can visit my charity blog at iridewithchloe.com.
It would be very nice if you would buy a badge or even donate a gold coin for a Chloe sticker and join me as I ride to fight dementia with daddy Ken.
I hope I meet you again someday when I am on another ride with Ken. Make sure you say hello and always be happy and have a big smile and thank you for your donation to the Fight Alzheimer’s appeal to help other people who get sick like my mummy.