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Early-onset Alzheimer's stole the memory of his marriage. Then he proposed again.

Early-onset Alzheimer's stole the memory of his marriage. Then he proposed again.

Earth and Sun Co/YouTube

Peter and Lisa Marshall's romance began 20 years ago, after the former neighbors had each gotten divorced. They lived in different states and maintained a long-distance relationship for eight years, as neither wanted to uproot her kids. After Lisa's youngest went off to college in 2009, the couple decided to get married.

A dream Turks and Caicos beach wedding followed. Lisa moved to Peter's home in Connecticut, where they enjoyed seven years of marital bliss. Then the warning signs hit.

Peter started giving Lisa directions to their home. He began having trouble finishing sentences, struggling for the words

"Instead of the word 'airplane,' he'd say, 'that thing that goes up in the sky,' " Lisa told The Washington Post. "He also became pretty forgetful, but the word deficiency was really hard to ignore."

Peter went to a neurologist in 2018 and was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. He was 52.

"Before his diagnosis, I always thought that Alzheimer's was an old person's disease," Lisa told the Post. "Now I know better."

Peter's cognitive impairment accelerated quickly. By January of 2019, he had to quit his job. The following year, Lisa quit hers to become his full-time caretaker.

Needless to say, it's been an incredibly difficult journey for Lisa, and well as the couple's five children, as Peter's memory of his life and loved ones fades—including his memory of being married to Lisa.

But late last year, a beautiful moment of hope broke through the darkness. Lisa and Peter were watching a show that featured a wedding when Peter suddenly looked over at Lisa and said, "Let's do it!"

"Do what?" Lisa asked.

Peter pointed to the wedding scene on the TV.

"Do you want to get married?" Lisa asked.

With a big smile, Peter said yes.

"Well, okay," Lisa responded. "We should get married then."

He wouldn't remember the proposal the next day, but the idea of renewing their wedding vows resonated with Lisa. "For better or for worse" had taken on a whole new meaning after Peter's diagnosis, and his condition has worsened since January of this year. For the past six months, he has seen Lisa as his favorite caretaker, not his wife.

Lisa's daughter, Sarah Brehant, runs a wedding planning business and offered to organize the ceremony. She networked with vendors, who all offered to provide their services for free.

"I knew that my stepdad, who I am very close with, was there through some of the toughest times of my life," Brehant told the Post. "He means so much to me, and my mom is my best friend, so I was proud to be able to take on such an important role."

Sarah wrote in a touching Father's Day post that Peter had started telling her he loved her every chance he got after his diagnosis.

"I knew he wanted to make sure I knew before he couldn't tell me anymore," she wrote. "He'd say it every chance he could get while he still could, every time we saw each other."

Peter and Lisa renewed their wedding vows on April 26 in a ceremony attended by friends and family and officiated by a dementia specialist who helped Lisa set up a care plan for Peter.

"It was just magical — straight out of a fairy tale," Lisa said.

When Lisa got to the altar, Peter leaned in and gave her a kiss.

"There wasn't a dry eye, and I was over the moon," she said. "I hadn't seen Peter that happy in a long time."

"It was absolutely magical," Sarah told The Knot, "and Peter was bright and present the entire day. The sweetest moment of the day was when he had a very lucid moment and he leaned in and whispered in my ear, 'Thank you for staying.'"

Watch this beautiful video of highlights from the big day:

Emotional Vow Renewal // Mill 1 at Open Square // Lisa + Peterwww.youtube.com

As lovely as the vow renewal was, it would be disingenuous to leave the story there. Lisa has been documenting the couple's Alzheimer's journey—the inspiring and the challenging—via her Facebook page Oh Hello Alzheimer's. In her posts, it's clear what an up and down experience it is to love someone who is losing themselves.

On June 14, Lisa shared a bittersweet post about the difficulty of watching Peter disappear, only to be reassured by him when she cried into his chest, "We still have time."

Then, just five days later, Lisa shared a post about how Peter's condition has reached a point where the daycare that gave Lisa a respite from full-time care was no longer viable as he's grown more anxious and agitated. Alzheimer's patients can become increasingly paranoid and hallucinate as the disease progresses, which can lead to anger and aggressive behavior.

"I knew the call would come," Lisa wrote, "I was well aware that it would happen. I just thought I'd have more time."

The decisions about care for a loved one with advancing Alzheimer's are never easy, and time is never guaranteed. Although Lisa and Peter's story is hard to witness, her openness is also providing solidarity and support for countless families who are going through similar experiences with their loved ones.

Lisa has also used her Facebook page to raise money for Alzheimer's research, and after seeing Peter's story, it's obvious why it's so needed. As Lisa reminds us, Alzheimer's is a terminal disease, and as of now, there is no cure. You can donate to the Alzheimer's Association via Lisa's team link here.

As for advice for other couples, "The only thing that matters is love and respect," Lisa told The Knot. "You treat each other with gentle kindness every day and you reach deep into your heart for more patience and understanding than you think you have. You love deeply and immensely and you make memories intentionally. Be present."

Despite Peter forgetting her, Lisa added, "I'm the luckiest woman in the world. The man of my dreams fell in love with me and asked me to marry him twice. He chose me again."

All our best to Lisa and Peter as they navigate their remaining time together.

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Gen Z manager shares the time-off requests she's rejected, and people are here for it

This is a refreshing approach to leadership.

time off requests, pto, sick leave, gen z manager, manager positions, asking for time off

@bunchesofbeggs/TikTok

This Manager thinks PTO is for vacation, not "life changing events."

What does it take to be a good boss? You can answer this a million different ways—by being a clear communicator, earning employee trust, providing constructive feedback, and fostering a positive and supportive work environment while also being open to feedback and recognizing your team's contributions—but really, it all seems to stem from respecting your employees as fellow human beings.

Part of that means acknowledging that these employees have lives that are, frankly, more important to them than the job, and not penalizing them for it. One manager, and Gen Zer no less, seems to fully understand this basic principle, and folks are applauding her for it.

Elizabeth Beggs, who manages a five-person team for a packaging distribution company in Virginia, recently made a TikTok sharing which time-off requests she “rejects. ”You’ll see why “rejects” is in quotes shortly.

One example: when a female rep notified Beggs that she was likely having a miscarriage. After the team member asked how she can file for time off to see to the issue, Beggs immediately responded, “Girl, go to the doctor! We’re not submitting time off for that!”

In Beggs’ mind, PTO is for “vacation,” not medical emergencies. What a concept.

@bunchesofbeggs
Edited to clarify- 1. My team is all salary. 2. These examples are not all recent or from my current position. 3. My team works hard and hits thier KPIs above and beyond. Time off is meant to recharge and be used how you need it, not to handle life changing events #mangers #corporate #genzmanagers #sales #vetstocorporate #veterans

Beggs went on to explain a couple more situations, like when one employee—a parent—was “up all night” with their sick kid. And her last one wasn’t even negative—she had an employee who wanted to work a half-day to do something nice for their anniversary.

“Seriously, if any of these triggered anyone, then you need to evaluate how you run your team as a manager,” she concluded.

By and large, the response to Beggs’ management style has been overwhelmingly positive, and people seem to find it completely refreshing.

“You are not a manager, you’re a LEADER,” one person wrote.

@bunchesofbeggs
Everything you do should be to better your team, not to make your life easier #leadership #ownership #corporatelife #veteran #military

Another said, “The better you treat your employees, the more loyal they will be and the better work they will put out. Most people do not understand how management works.”

A few noted how this attitude seems to be more present among younger leaders. One person commented, "millennial manager here. My team members are human first, employees second. Like just go do what you want but get the work done too.”

Another joked that “Boomer managers could NEVER.”

Beggs would later clarify this doesn’t mean she doesn't have clear productivity expectations for her team (who work on salary). Perhaps if she had a team member not making their KPIs (key performance indicators), there would be an additional conversation surrounding time off, but there is still an inherent respect as a fellow human being. Which, to her, means treating bona fide time off as a way to “recharge and be used how you need it, not to handle life changing events.”

@bunchesofbeggs
If you’re planning does not account for people being human- it’s bad planning #genzleaders #armyvet #militaryvet #genz #corporatelife #corporate #manager #timeoff

Younger generations might get labeled “lazy” or “entitled,” but they are also the ones fighting to change the status quo so that we all may be treated less like cogs in the machine, and more like actual human beings. Its leaders like Beggs who show that operating in new ways doesn't compromise productivity—it, in fact, enhances it. We might not be able to change the global standard overnight, but we certainly aren’t going to get to a better place without leaders who choose to serve their community rather than a bottom line.

This article originally appeared in March.

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Gen Xers will never forget the 'magic' of malls during Christmas in the 1980s

"I remember Christmas shopping all afternoon, grabbing dinner, and then waiting in line to see Rocky IV, all at the mall."

mall, christmas, christmas mall, 1980s mall, 1980s christmas, gen x

Image via Reddit/Cross_Stitch_Witch

Gen Xers get nostalgic about going to the mall during Christmas in the 1980s.

Christmas shopping is the main event of the holiday season, and for Gen Xers (those born between 1965-1980), hitting the local mall to get gifts was the ultimate experience.

Back in the 1980s, malls were filled with people hustling and bustling at the holidays, and during Christmastime, malls were decorated to the nines with over-the-top holiday decor to welcome shoppers.

On Reddit, Gen Xers got nostalgic about Christmas shopping at the mall during the '80s. One Gen Xer noted, "I’m sorry for those of you who never got to experience the joy of a mall during Christmas in the 1980s. It was a magical time."

@nostalgiapostss
Everybody just seems so relaxed. #80 #80saesthetic #80sthrowback #nostalgia #nostalgic #nostalgiacore #era #christmas #shoppingspree #christmashopping #1980s #1980 #mall #80small

Gen Xers described the overall ambiance and how malls today can't compare. "Every store in the mall was open. The center hall was stuffed with kiosks and the occasional new car. Every square inch was fully decked out for Christmas. Now our mall looks like a setting for a horror movie," one commented.

A fellow Gen Xer added, "I remember Christmas shopping all afternoon, grabbing dinner, and then waiting in line to see Rocky IV, all at the mall. Malls were so alive back then. It didn’t even feel like Christmas until you had seen the beautifully decorated, bustling shopping mall."

Gen Xers agreed that department stores really went all-out. "Marshall Field's and Carson Pirie Scott (Carson's) in Chicago had Christmas window displays and the decorations inside FELT like Christmas. Trees, garlands, ornaments covered the store. They also sold hot chocolate inside. We went nearly every year when I was a kid. Streets were crowded and if a window was really good, it almost had a line," one shared.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Stores themselves were also different. "I just miss being able to buy stuff and they would put it in a gift box with tissue paper. I'm not even talking about the gift wrap counter. Just any store if you said it was a gift, would box it for you," another Gen Xer noted.

Others discussed what it was like to battle the crowds. "I remember early to mid 80s, the mall was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with shoppers during the holidays - especially after 5pm to when the mall closed at 9pm," one Gen Xer wrote.

See on Instagram

Another noted, "I remember not even being able to get in the mall because every parking space was full and the traffic at every red light was backed up for half a mile. Then you get to the Food Court and everything is packed. You’re standing in a 15 person deep line for a piece of pizza, if you’re lucky. Most of the time my parents were like, 'we’ll just eat when we get out of here'."

Although some Gen Xers prefer online shopping these days, many still miss Christmas at the mall. "I love being able to shop via the internet... But I will be damned if I don't miss the Christmas decors and all the people walking around just enjoying their consumerism being on full display. It was super fun as a kid to run in between all the shops," one shared.

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Education & Information

This surprising map reveals the real value of $100 in each state

Your purchasing power can swing by nearly 25 percent from state to state.

cheapest states, cost of living, finances, cost of living, $100

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars across America.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise due to inflation, tariffs, and other economic factors, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific they prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

Each year, the Tax Foundation addresses many of these shortcomings using the most recent Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. In recent years, they've further updated their data so that you can break down the value of your money across every single metro area in the United States. It's an incredibly valuable tool for the many people considering (or who have already acted and migrated from states like California to Florida), Texas and other states with friendly state taxes rates and more affordable housing options.

The map quantifies and presents the cost of living by geography in a brilliantly simple way. For instance, if you're looking for a beach lifestyle but don't want to pay California prices, try Florida, which is about as close to "average"—in terms of purchasing power, anyway—as any state in the Union. If you happen to earn (or luck) your way into Silicon Valley tax brackets, head to Hawaii, D.C., or New York. You'll burn through your money in no time. And in some of those places like Hawaii, there are quality of life measurements that often exceed raw purchasing power.

So, where does your dollar go the furthest in 2025? The financial planning site GoBankingRates.com compiled its own list of cash purchasing power across each state and found that in California, you get the least bang for your buck: only $87.42 in real purchasing power for every $100 of cash. The average person in California makes $96,344 annually, one of the higher income levels in the country. However, just living in California on average costs residents a staggering $86,408, leaving the average person with little flexibility for long-term financial planning projects like retirement, saving for a new home, or even buying a new car.

At the other end of the spectrum is Arkansas, where your dollar goes the furthest. In fact, that $100 bill burning a hole in your proverbial wallet is in fact worth more than its technical value, with a real value of $113.49. On top of that, the cost of living is only $37,067, less than half of that in California. Further, the average cost of a new home in Arkansas is $208,743, less than one-third of a new home in California. Not coincidentally, in 2023, Arkansas was the top destination for people moving to another state within the United States, followed by Texas.

family, moving, income, finances, $100 Family moving into a new home. Canva Photos.

How about Florida, which has received outsized attention in recent years for its overt efforts to draw residents from California and other states with higher costs of living? According to the most recent data, Florida is in fact much closer to California than Arkansas, coming in only in 40th place on the GoBankingRates rankings, with $100 in cash only being worth $96.55. However, the annual cost of living is still only slightly more than half of that in California, coming in at $53,505. And if you're looking to buy some real estate, the average home is valued at $404,924. That's still well outside the purchasing power of many Americans, but with built-in advantages such as warm weather and one of the top-ranked state education system in America, it's obvious why so many people, especially those with families, are choosing Florida over California in recent years.

florida, cost of living, finances, $100, education Driving Road Trip GIF by Rosen Hotels & Resorts Giphy

According to U.S. News and World Report's data analysis, California only has the nation's 23rd best education system and is ranked a paltry 37th overall in their state rankings. It's quite a contrast for a state that bills itself on the promise of opportunity, natural wonder, and positive lifestyle options. And with 2025's wildfires (as well as an annually-worsening wildfire season), the constant threat of earthquakes, and other factors, California clearly has challenges beyond economics if it wants to remain one of the more attractive states in the nation.

Of course, those numbers are always in flux, and political leaders in California have promised concrete reforms in order to address the state's high cost of living compared with the value of its social and emergency services. If you want proof of how quickly things can change, look at a similar analysis of the value of $100 in each state from 2015:

- YouTube youtu.be

However, those negative statistical trends aside, California continues to have an incredible pull on our collective imagination. Four hundred twenty-three thousand, one hundred ninety-four Americans left their state for California according to the most recent data in 2023, placing it in third behind our previously mentioned top two states, Arkansas and Texas.

So, it's clear there are a number of factors that determine the best place to live in America. When it comes to raw purchasing power, you cannot beat Arkansas. But there's so much else to consider: public resources like education and healthcare, job opportunities (you probably won't make nearly as much in Arkansas as you might in California) and other factors such as proximity to family, friends, and personal interests.

There's no doubt America is rapidly changing and that includes what people value the most when they decide where to live. In uncertain economic times, the face of America will likely change radically in the coming years with the political, economic, and social landscape shifting in meaningful ways.

This article originally appeared in August.

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A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that she says could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going."

batteries, energy, sustainability, power, breakthroughs

Steve Zylius/University of California, Irvine.

UCI doctoral candidate Mya Le Thai has developed a nanowire-based technology that allows lithium-ion batteries to be recharged hundreds of thousands of times.

A quote widely attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca says, "Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity." In 2016, a doctoral candidate at the University of California Irvine proved that this is indeed the truth.

Nine years ago, Mya Le Thai, PhD was playing around in the lab when she made a colossal discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery—that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting appliances, laptops, smartphones, cars and so much more, plus fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

A team of researchers at UCI had been experimenting with nanowires for potential use in batteries, but found that, over time, the thin fragile wires would break down and crack after too many charging cycles. A charge cycle is when a battery goes from completely full to completely empty and back to full again.

charging station, battery, charging battery, charge, batteries Phone charging.Canva Photos.

But one day on a whim, Thai coated a set of gold nanowires in manganese dioxide and a Plexiglas-like electrolyte gel.

"She started to cycle these gel capacitors, and that's when we got the surprise," said Reginald Penner, chair of the university's chemistry department. "She said, 'this thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it's still going.' She came back a few days later and said 'it's been cycling for 30,000 cycles.' That kept going on for a month."

This discovery is mind-blowing because the average laptop battery lasts 300 to 500 charge cycles. The nanobattery developed at UCI made it though 200,000 cycles in three months. That would extend the life of the average laptop battery by about 400 years. The rest of the device would have probably gone kaput decades before the battery, but the implications for a battery that lasts hundreds of years are pretty startling.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

“Mya was playing around, and she coated this whole thing with a very thin gel layer and started to cycle it,” Penner added. “She discovered that just by using this gel, she could cycle it hundreds of thousands of times without losing any capacity.”

“That was crazy,” he added, “because these things typically die in dramatic fashion after 5,000 or 6,000 or 7,000 cycles at most. ”"The big picture is that there may be a very simple way to stabilize nanowires of the type that we studied. If this turns out to be generally true, it would be a great advance for the community."

Not bad for just fooling around in the laboratory!

science, discovery, lab, batteries, Bill Nye, gif bill nye chemistry GIF by NETFLIX Giphy

Since her discovery, Mya Le Thai earned her PhD and has gone on to a successful career as the Principal Scientist with the Enevate Corporation, a company set "to develop innovative battery technologies that accelerate adoption of electrified mobility," according to their website.

She has also filed patents for her various inventions, the most recent of which being "Cells with blocking devices for delayed heat propagation" in July 2025. Her full list of patents can be found on Justia.

This article originally appeared eight years ago. It has been updated.

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Artist perfectly explains Dad and daughter relationships in 10 paintings

The special bond they share is amazing.

parents, kids, children, art, artwork, parenting hacks, parenting advice

All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

A dad and daughter trying to share the same bed.

It's hard to truly describe the amazing bond between dads and their daughters.

Being a dad is an amazing job no matter the gender of the tiny humans we're raising. But there's something unique about the bond between fathers and daughters. Most dads know what it's like to struggle with braiding hair, but we also know that bonding time with our daughters is immensely valuable. In fact, studies have shown that women with actively involved fathers are more confident and more successful in school and business.

You know how a picture is worth a thousand words? I'll just let these images sum up the daddy-daughter bond.

A 37-year-old Ukrainian artist affectionately known as Soosh created some ridiculously heartwarming illustrations of the bond between a dad and his daughter and put them on her Instagram feed. Sadly, her father wasn't involved in her life when she was a kid. But she wants to be sure her 9-year-old son doesn't follow in those footsteps. "Part of the education for my kiddo, who I want to grow up to be a good man, is to understand what it's like to be one," Soosh told Upworthy.

“I always wanted to have a tender and loving relationship with my own father, but he didn’t know how to show his love so most of the time was distant and cold,” Soosh told The Huffington Post. "I drew what I lacked and very much wanted — to feel loved and protected by my big papa."

There are so many different ways fathers demonstrate their love for their little girls, and Soosh pretty much nails them all.

Get ready to run the full gamut of the feels.

1. Dads can do it all. Including hair.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork A father does his daughter's hairAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

2. They also make pretty great game opponents.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, chess A father plays chess with his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

3. And the Hula-Hoop skills? Legendary.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, chess A father plays hula hoop with his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

4. Dads know there's always time for a tea party regardless of the mountain of work in front of them.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, tea party Tea time delight amidst piles of work.All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

5. And their puppeteer skills totally belong on Broadway.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, puppets A dad performs a puppet show for his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

6. Dads help us see the world from different views.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, puppets, piggy back A dad walks with his daughter on his backAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

7. So much so that we never want them to leave.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, puppets, luggage A dad carries a suitcase that his daughter holds onto.All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

8. They can make us feel protected, valued, and loved.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, bed time A dad holds his sleeping daughter.All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

9. Especially when there are monsters hiding in places they shouldn't.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, super dad A superhero dad looks over his daughter.All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

10. Seeing the daddy-daughter bond as art perfectly shows how beautiful fatherhood can be.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, bed time A dad takes the small corner of the bed with his dauthter.All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

Soosh has made these paintings available for purchase for those who would love to have one of them grace their daughter's room. They're a rgeat reminder of how powerful the bond can be tween between a father and daughter. Take a look at Soosh's gallery here.

This article originally appeared nine years ago.

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