For artist behind new stamp, story is personal

Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
U.S. Postal Service stamp designer Ethel Kessler, who has designed more than 200 stamps, had a special interest in taking on the job of planning the Alzheimer's commemorative, which goes on sale Friday. Her mother, Ruth, now in a nursing home, has suffered from the brain-wasting disease for years.

'Darkness to light'
The 42-cent Alzheimer's postage stamp shows a woman, head bent down, with a comforting hand resting on her shoulder. The image is slightly obscured, as if seen through mist. "It's symbolic of somebody from darkness to light," Kessler said. The image is not her mother or any specific person, she added.

A glimmer
Unlike some with Alzheimer's, Kessler's mom seems happy and enjoys visits from her children even though she doesn't recognize them. "I come in and touch her shoulder or knee and look at her for a minute, and there's a spark of recognition," said Kessler, of Bethesda, Md. "She hasn't said my name in a long time, and I don't ask her to say my name."
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