The changes were subtle at first, when Paul Arndt's mother first displayed signs of dementia.

"You'd mention something, and five minutes later she'd ask about the same thing you just talked about," the Coeur d'Alene man said. "After a while, it becomes fairly obvious something's not quite right."

As her disease progressed, the mental lapses became more than just an inconvenience.

A big decision had to be made.

"She'd forget to eat, or that she had eaten," Arndt remembered, shaking his head. "She was having health problems from not eating. So we moved her into a nursing home."

Variations of this story were common on Saturday morning among the more than 200 collected at the annual Alzheimer's Association's Walk to End Alzheimer's at Riverstone Park, where seniors, their friends and family gathered for solidarity against the faceless enemy that causes elders' memories and their sense of self to ebb.

Despite the issue bringing them together, folks acted joyful, many festooned with decorations and multidimensional costumes. Many were masters of forbearance after facing Alzheimer's, clinging to the solace that though some of the past was draining away, a vital future could still lie ahead.

"You can't hide it. People have to face it," said Mary Thomas of Coeur d'Alene, who has taken in her mother-in-law with dementia. "Now we have an awareness as far as the benefiting things like lifestyle that will prolong it. Healthy eating, exercise."

Although perhaps no real cure is possible, Thomas emphasized her hopes for progress in treatment and prevention.

"Daily. Moment by moment," she said of the attention required by her mother-in-law. "It's like having another child that has to be kept safe, kept clean. That has to be loved."

Connie Literal was decked out in a straw hat and camouflage like the other walkers from On Site for Seniors.

A nurse for roughly 40 years, Literal said she has seen the disease devastate families, and was relieved that the issue is being addressed at such events.

"Catastrophic," she said of Alzheimer's effects on individuals. "You hear stories of people who go off in a car and turn up dead in a field. How could it be any worse?"

Melissa Bloon said her father's Alzheimer's has progressed steadily since his diagnosis several years ago.

Her Coeur d'Alene family agrees that though his long-term memory is mostly intact, random recollections are inaccurate.

"It's slow," Bloon said of the disease's advance. "It's brutal."

An event with so many others facing the same battle, she said, boosts her confidence.

"It takes a village," she said. "We're blessed to have a community that stands up and helps."

The Inland Northwest Chapter of Alzheimer's Association has held the event, previously called Memory Walk, since 1997, said interim Executive Director Mark Havens.

There are 5.4 million Americans with Alzheimer's, Havens said, which costs $183 billion in care and treatment each year.

"It touches so many families," he said. "And with the baby boomers starting to retire, the numbers are expected in the decades to come to slingshot to epidemic levels, unless we make significant progress."

On a brighter note, he added, the proceeds from Saturday's walk will go toward chapter activities as well as the national association for research and education.

"I'm pleased to see crowds give up their Saturday morning," Havens said.

Sandi Druffel, development director of the Inland Northwest Chapter, lauded the sudden appearance of the sun after the ominous rainy morning.

The swift change, she noted, was a fitting metaphor for the day.

"It's like people with Alzheimer's," Druffel said. "Suddenly, your life isn't the way you planned it to be."