![\"Debi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cover-story-4-1-600x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Longtime Alzheimer\u2019s San Diego supporter and Walk4ALZ team leader Greg Gould recently published a book called Random Acts of Weirdness: A Real-Life Journey Inside an Alzheimer\u2019s Mind. This unique book dives into the experiences of Greg and his wife Deborah \u201cDebi\u201d Gould as they navigated her dementia symptoms for more than a decade. Along the way Debi and Greg made friends, were welcomed into the dementia community, and advocated for dignity and respect for people impacted by memory loss.<\/p>\n
Debi & Greg\u2019s Dementia Journey<\/p>\n
It all started in 2014 when Debi was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment. \u201cOnce Debi learned about her diagnosis, she started a journal where she kept track of everything that was happening every day. That way after she forgot it the next day she could see what she did,\u201d says Greg. Over the course of 9 years, Debi wrote down everything she was experiencing as her symptoms progressed in a journal. \u201cDebi was brutally honest and she didn\u2019t hold anything back. She put her deepest darkest thoughts and everything in there,\u201d says Greg, \u201cthe good stuff, the bad stuff, the sad stuff, and the funny stuff.\u201d Besides writing down her thoughts in journals, Debi also started a Facebook page in 2017 called \u201cLife With Alzheimer\u2019s\u201d where she shared her experiences living with memory loss. From the beginning, Debi wanted to let people know what it\u2019s like to live with Alzheimer\u2019s disease and help fight the stigma many people living with dementia experience.<\/p>\n
Throughout the book, Debi and Greg share their experiences receiving guidance at Alzheimer\u2019s San Diego. \u201cWhen we got the diagnosis, we didn\u2019t know anything about the disease,\u201d says Greg. \u201cWe came to [Alzheimer\u2019s San Diego] and that was very very helpful. We found out we were not alone and there were other people going through this.\u201d Greg and Debi not only gained support from the Dementia Care Coaches<\/a>, they also made friends with other couples going through similar experiences, and were warmly welcomed into the dementia community.<\/p>\n After Debi passed away in 2025, Greg decided that he wanted to create a book<\/a> in Debi\u2019s honor so that other people could continue to learn from her experiences. \u201cI thought well Debi\u2019s thing was \u2018I wanna teach\u2019 so I thought ok well lets just get it out there,\u201d says Greg. He transcribed her journal entries and combined it with her posts on the Facebook page and then added his own commentary from the present day to put things into perspective. \u201cThe unique part about the book is it was all written in real time,\u201d says Greg, \u201cand she wrote a lot of personal things she was thinking with the disease.\u201d The result is a book that brilliantly captures the emotional and mental complexities of dementia from both the person living with the disease and the caregiver\u2019s perspectives.<\/p>\n If you would like to purchase a copy of Debi and Greg\u2019s book, visit the website through the button below. Greg is generously donating all proceeds to Alzheimer\u2019s San Diego to support other people impacted by dementia.<\/p>\n Disclaimer: This is a raw and unfiltered first-hand account of a person\u2019s experience living with dementia. Some topics may be uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Supporting Their Community Through Walk4ALZ<\/p>\n Debi and Greg have been participating in Walk4ALZ<\/a> since Alzheimer\u2019s San Diego became a local independent nonprofit in 2016. \u201cOver the last 10 years our team Dignity for ALZ<\/a> has raised over $100,000 dollars. It was my daughter who came up with the name because Debi felt like people living with dementia were not being treated with any dignity, that they were looked down on and judged. So that was her whole thing \u2013 dignity,\u201d says Greg, \u201cso we called the team Dignity for ALZ.\u201d Over the years their walk team has not only helped support the programs and services that Greg and Debi relied on, it also helped provide free support for so many more people impacted by memory loss in San Diego.<\/p>\n Six years ago, Debi spoke at Walk4ALZ to share her journey living with dementia and advocate for others living with the disease. \u201cShe was the first and only person with Alzheimer\u2019s disease that spoke,\u201d says Greg, \u201cIt was pretty remarkable.\u201d You can watch her incredible speech here<\/a>. Today, Greg and his family continue to participate in Walk4ALZ in Debi\u2019s honor and to support people currently impacted by dementia in San Diego County. \u201cI have a lot of fun! It\u2019s a fun day for a great cause. Everybody is happy and smiling and just glad to be there,\u201d says Greg, \u201cIt\u2019s a great walk through Balboa Park.\u201d Greg will be at Balboa Park on Saturday, October 17th and he encourages you to join as well. Registration is free to all, and the Walk begins at 8 AM!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime Alzheimer\u2019s San Diego supporter and Walk4ALZ team leader Greg Gould recently published a book called Random Acts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[24264,193016,193017,55547,20262,193018,74,76,75,131351],"class_list":["post-496849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-book","tag-debi","tag-dignity-for-alz","tag-greg","tag-journey","tag-random-acts-of-weirdness","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-walk4alz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Random](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Greg-book-200x300.png\")
<\/p>\n