💔 Silver Fox Twin Roy Faces a New Reality: Alzheimer’s Is Stealing My Mom’s Memories of Losing Her Son
💔 Silver Fox Twin Roy Faces a New Reality: Alzheimer’s Is Stealing My Mom’s Memories of Losing Her Son
By Silver Fox Twin Roy Williams
🙏🏽 This one is difficult to write.
On Friday, September 11, 2026, just a few hours after hosting “Jacksonville Salutes a Hometown Hero,” our 25th anniversary tribute honoring my oldest brother, Army Major Dwayne Williams, I drove to Anniston to visit my 84-year-old mother, Pearl Williams, at her nursing home.
I had just spent the morning telling Dwayne’s story.
Remembering his service.
Remembering his sacrifice.
Remembering how our family’s lives changed forever 25 years ago.
Then I walked into my mother’s room and came face-to-face with a new reality.
Alzheimer’s is stealing Mom’s memories.
I knew something was different almost immediately.
Mom didn’t greet me with her usual smile and the familiar, joyful shout:
“Roy!”
That moment broke my heart. I think mom is forgetting who I am!
My fears that Alzheimer’s is worsening when showed Mom the Anniston Star article about the 9/11 ceremony honoring Dwayne. I wanted her to know that her oldest son was being remembered in his hometown 25 years after his death.
But this time, something was missing.
Mom doesn’t remember Dwayne.
The son she carried.
The son she loved.
The Army Major who died at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
The son whose death changed all of our lives.
💔 A Painful New Reality
For 25 years, I’ve carried memories of Dwayne and the terrible days following 9/11.
The phone calls that went unanswered.
The uncertainty.
The 10 days before we received confirmation that my brother was gone.
The grief our family experienced.
And now, Alzheimer’s is slowly taking those memories away from Mom.
As painful as that is for me to accept, there is one bittersweet blessing:
Mom doesn’t remember the pain.
She doesn’t remember the Twin Towers falling.
She doesn’t remember watching the Pentagon burn.
She doesn’t remember the terror and uncertainty surrounding Dwayne’s disappearance.
And she doesn’t remember the heartbreaking moment when we learned that her son would never come home.
Maybe that’s God’s mercy in the midst of something so painful.
🙏🏽 What I Want to Remember
I can’t control what Alzheimer’s takes from Mom.
But I can help make sure Dwayne’s memory lives on.
That’s why I continue telling his story.
That’s why I created Take the Day Back.
That’s why I went home to Jacksonville on September 11.
And that’s why I will keep sharing the story of my big brother with the next generation.
Even if Mom can’t remember Dwayne’s name, I remember.
Our family remembers.
Jacksonville remembers.
And the people who gathered at his memorial remember.
The nation remembers how he died.
But we will never forget how he lived.
So tonight, I’m asking for prayers.
Pray for my mother, Pearl.
Pray for our family as we navigate this new reality.
And pray that God gives me the strength to keep carrying Dwayne’s story forward.
🙏🏽 Sleep well, Mom.
You may not remember the pain anymore.
But your son is still remembered.
And he always will be.
🇺🇸 Army Major Dwayne Williams — 9/11/2001. Forever loved. Forever remembered.
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