In an interview with Newsweek, FTD care partner Channing Clifford shares her favorite memories with her mother, Valerie, who was diagnosed with FTD last year.

Roughly 10 years ago, Valerie was struck by a car while riding her bike and suffered a traumatic brain injury. In the years since, Clifford noted that Valerie was acting out of character, a change that doctors attributed to her injury. But as time passed, Valerie’s condition was not improving.

“We felt like that was just not right considering how much her behavior had shifted and how she struggled to remember people’s names even though she had known them for a long time,” Clifford said. “We went to another doctor that had then diagnosed her with a form of bipolar, which did explain her sudden shift in behavior, but not her memory issues.”

It wasn’t until February 2023 that the family would finally know why, when Valerie was diagnosed with FTD. According to Clifford, medical imaging showed a “complete lack of tissue in her frontal lobe.” Valerie was eventually placed in long-term care, though Clifford and her brothers visit regularly.

“It has been a difficult year for me and my family. It’s hard watching someone who raised you and gave you everything fall apart right in front of your eyes,” Clifford said. “Thankfully with the care and proper medication that she is now on has leveled out her sporadic behavior. I am only trying to look at the positive side of this, I feel like it has allowed me and my two brothers to reunite with the mom we had been missing all those years.”

Clifford records many of her visits to capture memories of her mother, filming activities such as painting Valerie’s nails, doing her makeup, going out to dinner, or spending quality time with the family. “I wanted to always be able to look back at memories of her because sometimes you get so caught up in the caretaking, you forget to breathe and take in the memories while you care,” Clifford told Newsweek.

Late last year, Clifford compiled a montage of her clips shared them on TikTok, which received 3.8 million views by the article’s publication.

“She is an incredible mom and it is heartbreaking to see her slowly disappear from us,” Clifford said. “Sharing this on social media was hard for me but for some reason, one day I just got the feeling that her story needed to be shared. It just felt right.”

Sharing the story of your FTD journey not only helps connect you with others who understand, it can help people better understand what living with the disease is truly like. AFTD Brand Ambassador Nicole Petrie shares her journey as a care partner for her mother using TikTok. Emma Heming Willis continues to share her story with the media to highlight the lived experience of being an FTD care partner.