enlarge Shawn Patrick Oullette/Staff Photographer

Shawn Patrick Oullette/Staff PhotographerBeveridge works out at a Biddeford gymnasium. Exercise is part of her approach to keeping herself sharp. uFEFF

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Donna Beveridge reads a book about dementia at her Saco home. She threw herself into research about Alzheimer’s after being diagnosed with the disease in August. “I have an illness that is finally going to make me slow down and live life now,” she said.

enlarge Shawn Patrick Oullette/Staff Photographer

Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Beveridge, right, and her partner, Betsey Pace, try to decide on a color mat for a piece of art commissioned from a local artist. Beveridge encouraged Pace, also feeling pressure because of her partner’s illness, to join a caregivers’ support group.

enlarge Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Donna Beveridge, left, participates in a qigong class at the home of teacher Raye Spiers in Saco. Qigong is an ancient Chinese discipline of moving, breathing and meditation. Others in the group are, from back to front, Robin Stickney, Rachel Smith and Carol Lane.

Hear Donna Beveridge read a poem from her Alzheimer's Journal

Read the Personal Journeys Thanksgiving series

WHAT IS ALZHEIMER'S?

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities. As Alzheimer's progresses, individuals also might experience changes in personality and behavior, such as anxiety, suspiciousness or agitation, as well as delusions or hallucinations.

EARLY-STAGE Alzheimer's is when problems with memory, thinking and concentration might begin to show themselves through a doctor's interview or medical tests. People in this stage typically need minimal assistance with simple daily routines. Some patients have progressed beyond this stage by the time they are diagnosed.

EARLY-ONSET Alzheimer's refers to Alzheimer's in people younger than 65, who may face additional pressures such as ensuring financial security for themselves and their families, getting benefits and helping children cope with the disease.

WARNING SIGNS OF ALZHEIMER'S

-- Memory loss

-- Difficulty performing familiar tasks

-- Problems with language

-- Disorientation to time and place

-- Poor or decreased judgment

-- Misplacing things

-- Changes in mood or behavior

-- Changes in personality

-- Loss of initiative

-- Problems with abstract thinking

Source: Alzheimer's Association

ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION, MAINE CHAPTER ADDRESS: 170 US Route 1, Suite 250, Falmouth, ME 04105 TELEPHONE: (800) 272-3900 or 772-0115 ONLINE: Alzheimer's Association, Maine Chapter

SACO -- Since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in August, Donna Beveridge has built a stone labyrinth complete with birdbath and fountain next to her house. She's painted sunflowers on her garden shed, started bridge lessons and taken up qigong, an ancient Chinese discipline of movement, breathing and meditation.

Now she's working out how to make a service dog part of her household, which already includes two cats; and eyeing the perfect spot in the backyard of her Tiffany Lane home for two claw-foot bathtubs. "A poor man's swimming pool," she said.

Beveridge, 65, has been packing her life full as she embarks on a life journey she never planned to take. It's a journey she says she's determined to make with humor, grace and eyes wide open, surrounded by her partner of seven years, Betsey Pace, and her many other family members and friends.

This will be her first holiday season with Alzheimer's, the degenerative brain disorder that affects about 4 million people in the United States, including nearly 30,000 in Maine. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Beveridge's family, including her three children and five grandchildren in addition to Pace, will gather at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, N.H., where Beveridge has rented a block of rooms.

"I have an illness that is finally going to make me slow down and live life now," she said.

'I KNEW SOMETHING WAS AMISS'

Beveridge had very different plans for her life after retiring as a third-grade teacher. She wanted to travel, enjoy her grandchildren and go camping.

The Saco Bay Time Bank was to be the big passion of her retirement. Beveridge is a co-founder of the organization, which helps members swap services, and was looking forward to using her well-honed organizational skills to coordinate the program.

"It is a wonderful way to build community," she said.

But two years into the project, Beveridge found herself overwhelmed. What was supposed to be a fulfilling part-time endeavor grew into more than a full-time job as she struggled to stay organized.

"Organization and working the big picture has always been my strength," she said.

She would read the minutes of meetings and not understand what she was reading. She said she knew something was not right.

Last winter, she started to warn her advisory board that it was not working out. She worried about her memory and Alzheimer's. Pace, a mental health social worker, chalked it up to overwork and tried to allay her partner's fears.

"It was consuming her 24-7. I thought she was pretty stressed," said Pace.

Then a computer problem wiped out her electronic calendar and all her lists. Beveridge fell apart.

"I felt I had lost my life," she said.

Her doctor sent her for tests. After a series of visits to memory clinics, with occupational therapists and neurologists, CAT scans and blood work, the diagnosis came back: dementia of the probable Alzheimer's type. The prognosis was grim, with a nursing home in her future in three to seven years.

For Beveridge, the diagnosis brought some relief. "I knew something was amiss, and I needed to know what it was," she said.

Beveridge received the news the same day the Minneapolis highway bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River, killing 13. To her, the possibility of being instantly crushed to death seemed so much worse than a long, slow slide.

"I didn't want Alzheimer's," she said, "but I am the kind of person who does better when I know. It is not the most painful thing. "

So now, instead of the time bank, Alzheimer's has become Beveridge's project.

DIVING INTO RESEARCH

It is a subject she was familiar with, after helping a close friend with Alzheimer's during the final years of life.

She has thrown herself into research and learned that no one knows for sure...