No matter who you are, what you've accomplished, what your financial situation is - when you're dealing with a parent with Alzheimer's, you yourself feel helpless. The parent can't work, can't live alone, and is totally dependent, like a toddler. As the disease unfolds, you don't know what to expect.

I think that public service is tough on a family - no ifs, ands, buts about it. I have my own personal wishes, but they're not always front and center.

I've learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we're starting out in the world. That's because in a way, we're starting out fresh in the world every single day.

We all obsess about what we are doing and accomplishing. What if we let it go and simply made the way we live our lives our accomplishment?

I liked that Larry King didn't know who Minerva was.

I was happy being a journalist. I didn't realize losing my job, my identity went with it.

Part of what Special Olympics is trying to do is break down stereotypes that still exist for people. There is still a lot of fear.