Ann The Community Activist Ann de Brauw was a well-known volunteer and community activist in Evanston, Illinois. She served on the District 65 School Board from 1989-1993, and in subsequent years was President on the PTA Council. She worked for the League of Women Voters, the Evanston Mental Health Association, Meals on Wheels, and many more charities. In 1988, she was co-chair of the Citizens for 65 Referendum Committee, a citizen group which was successful in winning a referendum to increase property taxes for Evanston in support of the school district. She also was instrumental in the "PIcture Lady" program, an art appreciation initiative in the Evanston schools. A life-long democrat and liberal, she described herself as a "trouble maker", but according to her friends she was totally "dependable". Ann Growing Up Ann was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in Westport, Connecticut. Her father, Sig Mickelson, was the first President of the CBS-TV News. She attended Mary Burnham School for Girls and Earned a BA in Speech Communication from Northwestern University. Growing up, she developed a strong interest in news and politics. She worked in a variety of media and news organizations. In 1964, she experienced national politics up close assisting her Father when he was the director the Republican National Convention in 1964. Ann Married She met her husband, Chris de Brauw, during travel overseas, and they were married in 1969 at the young age of 22. The couple settled in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where Chris was completing his undergraduate studies. In 1971 they moved to Athens, Ohio where Chris continued his graduate studies. Two sons, Alan and Michael, were born while in Athens, Ohio. In 1975, Chris landed his first real job in Chicago and the family moved to Evanston where they have lived ever since. In 1978 their third son Trevor was born, adding to what already was a bustling household. The family moved to a lovely Victorian house on Main Street which became the center of everything. The house needed extensive work, went through several stages of remodeling, ending up with an addition to the house that served as a passive solar energy collector. Ann – The Gardner and the Foodie Ann was intensely interested in food, growing it and preparing it. Already back in Athens she jumped at the opportunity when the city gave out free gardening plots. The conditions were very primitive, but she showed unstoppable zeal to cultivate, plant, water and weed the plot, and we harvested all kinds of rewards. In Evanston this same need to garden was supported; first behind our little town house. I remember one my business clients coming over, and he got a tour of tour of our vegetable garden by our son Alan, maybe about 4 years old, where he could identify over 20 plants growing. Believe me, most of those plants were food. Ann did not have much patience with growing flowers or ornamental plants, it had to be edible. Behind our Victorian house we large segments to the side of the grass, all devoted to a variety of vegetables and herbs. The boys and I played baseball on the grass beside these plantings, but one standing rule was that any ball hit into the garden was an automatic out. (Such balls had to be retrieved with utmost care to protect Mom’s plants). When we built our home Galena, Ann got a really nice big vegetable garden, and finally one that had an abundance of sun. There, we really worked hard on our weekends and had many years of wonderful harvests. Ann was a very creative cook. Over the years she assembled hundreds and hundreds of cookbooks. She was always looking for new things to prepare. She would study a variety of sources, and eventually make up her own version of the dish in an intuitive manner. We had an extensive herb garden behind the house and all of us knew how to go get a bunch of chives, thyme, rosemary, or sage. Her creations usually included garlic. As her dishwasher, I was always cleaning out a garlic press at the end of the day. One of her very special meals was an Indonesian Rijsttafel, which is an impressive combination of dishes having very distinctive flavors and textures. She got so good at it that she offered to cook this meal at charity auctions. Ann loved going to restaurants, and we loved exploring restaurants in Chicago. For a number of years, when the kids were little, we would get a babysitter on Thursday nights. Ann would meet me at the office downtown. First, we would go for a swim at McClurg Court Sports Center, and then we would try any place new along the way home, on Clark Street, Ashland, in Greek Town, China town or Western Avenue. In this manner we found many of our long time favorites. We were one of the first among our friends to find Mama Desta’s, the first Ethiopian restaurant in Chicago. We introduced our kids to this form of eating (with your hands) at an early age. (There was a Dunkin Donuts next door, and for good behavior they would get that as a reward to take home). Ethiopian food is still a popular cuisine with all of us, and I hear our grandsons, living in Washington DC, eat injera as if it is the most common thing you can eat. Another regular place became Rodity’s in Greek Town, where the parking attendants would ask “where are the boys?” if we came there by ourselves. Ann- the Traveller Besides going to restaurants, there was nothing better Ann could think of than planning trips, getting on an airplane, or in the car, and going places. We made numerous trips to Europe, for vacation and family visits. In addition, thanks to a large number of frequent flyer miles earned through Chris’ business travel, we were able to visit far away places. One of the countries Ann insisted on visiting was Thailand, because I did not take her often enough to Thai restaurants in Chicago. We were there in 1991, just when the Gulf war broke out. We explored Bangkok, and bought lots of things there, including a temple lamp, which is still in the hallway of our Main Street house, and custom made clothes. We were over a week in Chiang Mai, where we rented a car and visited Hmong tribes in their sanctuaries, rode on elephants, and were blessed by Buddhist priests. (I learned to appreciate Thai food a lot as well). One highlight of our travels was a trip to Indonesia with our friends Saul and Sandy Ben-Zeev. This included a visit to the remote Baliem Valley in Irian Jaya, the former Dutch side of New Guinea. At the time this valley could only be reached by air. You fly for over an hour from the coastal city of Jayapura over wild forests until you land in this valley on a grass airstrip. We had guides who led us for a three day hike through their country side and villages. Not too long ago the people there were still in the “stone age”, literally. Most of their clothing, tools and huts are made entirely from natural materials. Ann came totally prepared for this trip. She had small gifts for the children (paper and pencils) and was able to assist locals who needed help with cleaning and bandaging cuts. She had postcards of scenes and high-rise buildings in Chicago to show the people there what our “huts” look like. We took advantage of the fact that our Son Alan was in the Peace Corps in Malawi, a small country in East Africa. We made two trips to Africa. One time we toured much of Malawi and then had a fantastic tour of Kenya. On the second trip we met Alan in Harare, Zimbabwe, toured around Zimbabwe (an unbelievably scenic country, that, before Mugabe ruined it, was easy to travel), and South Africa. The Cape area, where the Dutch Boers settled centuries ago, is also incredibly scenic. It becomes understandable that colonists believed they had found paradise there. We visited Japan twice, enjoying the hospitality of our life-long friends the Horiguchis, who live in the city of Sendai, and who were just recently in peril with the earthquake and tsunami. Fortunately, their family has survived the assault intact. In 2003, we made a trip to China. An amazing country, overwhelming and impressive. The highlight there, for us, was our stay in Lijiang, high in the mountains against the Himalayas, in the valley that is known as Shangri-La. Ann’s life-long dream was to see Angkor Wat, the ancient temple complex in Cambodia. She had learned about it from an inspiring Asian History teacher in High School. We planned a trip there in early 2006. Just a few days before our departure, Ann had one of her first really bad falling accidents, caused by her disease. We had to cancel that trip. Fortunately, several years later, in November 2008, when we knew how to protect and handle her disease, we were able to make the trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, with the assistance of our caregiver Regina Edwards. We had an incredibly good time, and Ann’s radiant smiles during that trip are an unforgettable gift. The day we spent at Angkor Wat was amazing. With the help of Regina and our guide, she walked more than a mile past beautiful, intricate rock carvings that are more than 1000 years old. We found the Cambodian people (as well as the Vietnamese) incredibly hospitable and warm. That trip was a major milepost in her life. Ann and Galena In the early 1980’s we had become aware of the Galena Territory, a new resort development of vacation/weekend homes, lots, golf courses, a lake, riding center, a pool, etc. The attraction to us was that it was in a very hilly, scenic area that reminded us of the hills of Athens, where we had had such good memories. We started going there, renting homes, and, in 1987 bought a 4.5 acre lot, on a hillside in one of the more remote areas of the development. Not long thereafter, we were able to borrow an existing house, from a friend who just had lost his wife, and did not now if he wanted to keep the house. We discovered that we liked going out there regularly, and at all times of the year. When our friend remarried and wanted his house back, we moved to a ready-built house there. We did not have time and resources to build on our own lot (yet). One of Ann’s favorite activities, besides gardening, was organizing the annual ski weekend for employees of Chris’ company, C&R Research. It started on a small scale, but this event grew year by year, until we ended putting up dozens and dozens of mostly young persons in a variety of homes for a winter weekend. Ann would cook a gigantic meal, and each year it was a surprise what the meal would be. She tried to make it something they had never had, such cassoulet, pesole or Indonesian rijsttafel. The experience of renting a variety of homes for these weekends gave us good insights into what we wanted in the home we wanted to build on our own lot. The design started in 1996, with architect Marty Johnson, and the house was completed in the fall of 1997. Ann loved the entire process, from planning, to overseeing the construction, choosing materials and appliances, and furnishing the house. The end result was a house that really reflects how we feel about life: casual but comfortable, with a great kitchen. People always shake their heads and say: How can you stand it to drive out there for 3 hours? And we would say, you get used to it, and it is so wonderful to be there, that the moment you get there you forget the long drive. Once there, every one says, now I understand why you go here all the time, it is a wonderful place. Besides the large parties for the office, we have celebrated almost all of our holidays there with the entire family. It truly is our “home” now, especially after we had to give up our home on Main Street. Ann and her disease It is difficult to pinpoint when the disease began, but in the course of 2004 people started noticing that something was not entirely “right” with Ann. I am afraid that she must have known already before that time that she was not totally well, but she was stoic and quite silent about her condition. I would notice that she walked more awkwardly, and slowly. And as talkative as she always was, she seemed less outgoing and more quiet. There were also some falls, and it seemed like she had trouble righting herself after a fall or stumble. The second time that she took a major fall down the stairs (this was just before our planned trip to Vietnam and Cambodia) I put my foot down and insisted on getting a neurological evaluation. This started us on a 2-year quest, with many tests, diagnoses and even neural surgery, until we finally got the right diagnosis. Early on in the process, we were advised to get out of our Main street house, and we moved to the single story apartment in downtown Evanston. However, no one could explain the falls which kept coming. In about the 3 years that she experienced repeated falls, she had more than 10 major head injuries requiring an ER, stiches or staples, etc. But the falls came every week, sometimes daily. Ann took the falls better than the rest of us. She laughed them off, and thought it was funny if she would take someone else down with her. She never broke a bone. At my insistence we kept looking for someone who could tell us what really was the matter, and eventually we found Doctor Tanya Simuni at Northwestern Memorial hospital who was able to make the right diagnosis, PSP, or Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Instead of a dementia, as all other neurologists had claimed it to be, it was reclassified as a movement disorder, with mild dementia as a side effect. It finally made sense. Interestingly, Ann did not care to know the details of the disease. She left the management of the disease to me, and did not want to know much about it. She referred to it as “my stupid degenerative disease”. Once when we were at the Rehab Institute of Chicago, she told the doctor and staff that she had come to give them back their disease, she had had enough of it. Her attitude was to live life on as much as possible as normally as possible. She insisted on a good diet, and she was devoted to her personal trainer, Marla Brodsky, who guided her well being for over 4 years, till the very end. My goal was to give her all the care I could find to keep her as well as possible for as long as possible, With these two outlooks, we managed to have a number of very good, loving and rewarding years. While it was heartbreaking to see her less and less capable as the months went by, we persisted in doing things as much as possible as if they were part of life. The key was to never let her be alone, when awake, and to anticipate that at any time, under any circumstance, she might fall. I called her “my bowling pin”, liable to topple in any direction. She persisted in going shopping, choosing fresh food almost every day, and cooking, and later supervising the cooking. Once we had found our caregiver Regina, and our night nurse Victoria Sutton, we were able to have a very sustainable way of living. We went to Galena, and dealt with the inconveniences, and continued to enjoy whatever we could enjoy. We developed relationships with shops and restaurants where the staff knew us, and they did a lot to accommodate us. She never complained, she took her fate, and we, admiringly, supported her in the way she faced the challenges of the disease. Our three sons have been fantastic. Alan kept coming over, with his entire family or alone, whenever he had the chance; I lost count how many times this past year. Michael and Jennifer were here multiple times per week, doing a lot of the cooking and making soups and desserts that Ann could swallow easily. Trevor literally moved in, doing his publicity job from our apartment, when not making music with a multitude of bands. Lisa, working in the neighborhood at NU, was here all the time as well. Ann put up a very strong fight until the very end, and only when she gave up, the end came very quickly, surprising everyone in the end as she had surprised us before by being able to recover, even when the demise seemed near. She earned her peace. Ann – Our Gift If you are still reading this you will agree with me that Ann was a very multi-facetted person. She knew what she wanted, and with her strong will, she succeeded in most of what she tried to do. She always smiled. She had a wonderful sense of humor. She was devoted to her family and to me, her husband. She was one of the smartest people you’d ever meet. She was a voracious reader, and consumer of news. She taught us what love and loving is all about. Our family will do everything to carry that legacy forward, in deep gratitude for her life, Please add your own memories