Gerald still included his Dad in the family business

Gerald's dad had a dream of owning a convenience store.

Watch Gerald's video story here.

My Dad's name was Mundo Kim. He was a chemical engineer in Korea and a very successful businessman. His dream when we moved to Canada, was to own his own convenience store and he ended up owning many. He owned many businesses, video stores, even up to doing real estate development.

He was the most resilient and optimistic person I've ever met.

I've never seen him visibly sad or distressed. He was just a go-getter.

We were on the brink of bankruptcy... three times, and he never once fell into any kind of despair or hopelessness. He was always sure of himself. He knew we were going to get through it. And somehow, he did!

It's sad, certain things he couldn't do anymore because of his dementia symptoms. But there was a lot of him there that was still him.

His Dad loved being productive despite his dementia symptoms.

A big part of my Dad's identity was his ability to be productive and continue working, and that was taken away from him (with the disease). That was really hard.

So one of the things that we did as a family was to integrate him into our work. We brought him into the office once a week.

We'd ask him questions, and we'd run things by him.

We made him feel like he was part of our family business, even if he couldn't be part of it from a 'decision-making' standpoint. It really helped. 

Being part of the business gave his Dad strength and purpose.

He really seemed to enjoy it.

"It's Still Me" is a powerful statement to me. Because it really flipped the script on his disease. 

And the StillMe movement, too. It takes the focus away from what's lost and puts it back on what remains.

Join the StillMe social movement for change.

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Watch Gerald's video story here.

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Gerald Kim

Member, Board of Directors, Alzheimer Calgary

‍Gerald is a business valuator and forensic accountant with experience directing and managing complex damage quantifications for litigation and business interruption insurance claims. He is a previous board member of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. Gerald is honoured to be part of board of the Alzheimer Society of Calgary, having a personal connection to the cause as his father is living with dementia.

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