Our Inspiration

My grandmother, Dorothy Torrey, is currently dealing with the challenges of Alzheimer’s. For the past four years, we have seen her short-term memory loss decline, while her frustration and anxiety increased, and all I wanted to do was find a way to help her and others suffering from this disease.

Luckily, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I found something that has provided some hope that I can do something. Recently, a loved one gifted my grandmother a Companion Therapy Pet, a lifelike interactive stuffed animal, and it was a life-changing experience. I watched as she picked it up into her arms with the biggest smile running across her face and played with it as if it were one of her childhood pets. Ultimately, she decided that the only name fitting the new cat was the name of her beloved childhood cat- Smokey. I knew that I was not the only person with a parent or grandparent dealing with the challenges of Alzheimer’s, and seeing the way my grandmother lights up whenever she sees it, I wanted to give this feeling to others.

I started locally, teaming up with a colleague, donating three companion pets to Emerald Heights Nursing Home in Redmond, Washington. After delivering and setting up the pets, we saw a man with severe anxiety laugh and bark with the dog we brought, and that showed me that this was something that worked! We wanted to be the reason that someone’s day was made brighter due to the introduction of a cuddly companion. Seeing the joy that we can bring to people’s lives through a simple gesture is the reason we founded Memory Mates.