Brittany Snow says her father John has Alzheimer’s, sharing that grieving is a “slow process” because he was her “best friend.”
While we were talking about the documentary Daughters — about the relationships of young girls with their imprisoned fathers — in the latest episode Big Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allenthe Pitch Perfect alum talked about her father’s diagnosis.
“I’ve actually never shared this with you before, but now I feel compelled to do so. My dad struggled with Alzheimer’s for a very long time. And my dad and I are, like, probably the closest in my family,” Snow, 38, said.
“Over the past 10 years, to the point now where … there’s no, like, physical touch like that,” she said, referring to how the daughters in the documentary couldn’t be physically comforted by their fathers.
Brittany Snow in 2023 at the ‘Parachute’ premiere party.
Erika Goldring/Getty for Yale Entertainment
“There’s no home that way,” Snow said.
“To have the gift of grieving him in a slow process is really beautiful,” said Snow, who recently starred with Nick Jonas in the drama Good half as siblings dealing with their grief after their mother’s death.
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“I realize what I love about him and appreciate every single thing in these little moments that then get lost. And although it’s quite sad, it’s a much better gift than if it happened suddenly.”
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and the National Institute on Aging explains that it is caused by “a combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.”
The Parachute The director said that his diagnosis affects her other relationships, because “I’m losing something, so I’m trying to make up for it with other people.”
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While Snow called it “a confusing disease to witness,” she said it can be “beautiful to see someone who’s still there, but in a different version of themselves.”
Snow said that her father, who is now 85 years old, “was an old man [me] — sorry, dad.”
“I always knew he was an older dad, but he was, like, my best friend,” she said, adding that there are “moments where I’m like, ‘You’re in.’ ”
She said that her father, who lives in Florida, “gets very sad when I leave because he doesn’t understand where I’m going.”
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“Leaving is really hard, and there’s a part of my brain that says, ‘You should just stay forever.’ ”
But, Snow says, “the thing I really have to struggle with is that I still have to come and live my life.”
“He would like that.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education