Documentary on early onset Alzheimer's to premiere

Alzheimer's disease is a life-altering challenge for not only the people with the disease but also those who care for and about them. Getting the diagnosis in midlife poses another level of difficult challenges.

"Too Soon to Forget: The Journey of Younger Onset Alzheimer's Disease" is a documentary for public television that shares the emotional experience of nine families living with younger onset Alzheimer's disease.

The documentary will premiere at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel at Elmhurst College, 190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst.

"Too Soon to Forget" is narrated by Dan Gasby, husband of celebrity chef and lifestyle maven B. Smith, who was diagnosed with younger onset Alzheimer's at the age of 62. Gasby and Smith are the authors of "Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's."

A panel discussion following the screening will feature Gasby; the film's director-producer, Ted Kay; the Rev. Shawna Bowman, an artist who created Paintings of Too Soon to Forget; and Raj C. Shah, a physician and an associate professor of family medicine with the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center.

The moderator is Susan Frick, executive producer of "Too Soon to Forget," a social worker at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and an Elmhurst College alumna.

The event is sponsored by TMK Productions and Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, in partnership with Elmhurst College.

Admission is free, but reservations are required at elmhurst.edu/tix. Copies of the book "Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's" will be for sale at the event.

For information, call (630) 617-5186.