Jay and Laura Jones spent their wedding anniversary in Chicago a couple weeks ago. But the Lighthouse Point couple didn't jet to the Windy City to celebrate their eight-year marriage. They went to share their story at a Social Security Administration hearing on early-onset Alzheimer's. They also talked to ABC's Charlie Gibson about how their lives have changed.

You wouldn't know it to meet him, but Jay, a fit 52-year-old surfer who looks a decade younger, is one of five million Americans with varying stages of the progressive and fatal disease. By 2050, the National Aging Institute estimates, Alzheimer's may affect 13.2 million people. It's estimated that 400,000 Americans between the ages of 30 and 65 have the degenerative, memory-robbing form of dementia.

A warmhearted family man who was president of a $20 million-a-year yacht dealership, Jay has made it his mission to help others live with the diagnosis, especially those who, like him, have early stage and young-onset Alzheimer's.

This summer, Jay, who grew up in Palm Beach, was selected to serve on the National Early Stage Advisory Group.

Jay was 49 when he finally got the diagnosis.

``I struggled with him and doctors to find out what was wrong,'' Laura said. ``Everybody was telling me I was crazy. One doctor suggested he should take yoga classes.''

Laura had observed worrisome behavioral changes. Jay got lost driving home from a restaurant one night. He was nervous. He was combative and defensive.

``I would ask him to take out the garbage and he would say `I'm not stupid,' '' she said. ``He would leave his shoes on the kitchen counter and when I asked him about it he would get upset and drive around for hours. I thought he was a jerk. We were headed toward divorce.''

Jay was perplexed, too.

``I was losing things, and at work I would go to the bathroom, get back to my desk and ask myself if I had gone to the bathroom,'' Jay said.

Doctors suggested Jay's difficulties were the result of stress from his job or maybe some bug he picked up on a business trip to the Far East. The couple worried it might be cancer.

NEW CHALLENGES

It took 3 ½ years to finally get the diagnosis, and then there were a host of new challenges.

``We lost most of our old friends,'' Laura said. People just didn't know what to say.

Jay lost his job, Laura quit hers to take care of him, and then she had to get another one so they would have health insurance that didn't cost $2,000 a month. (They weren't eligible for Medicare for two years from diagnosis.) They hired a home health aide for Jay and a nanny for their daughter, Natalie, now 6. They got in touch with lawyers and doctors and the Alzheimer's Association for advice and support.

So many adjustments needed to be made. Jay stopped driving a car. Laura juggled work, doctors' visits and school meetings.

``Life's too short to be angry,'' Jay said. ``I've got a great family and we have a great house. I can ride my bike. I can go work out at LA Fitness.'' Sometimes his home health aide even takes him surfing.

A couple of days each week, Jay takes a bus to the Count and Countess deHoernle Alzheimer's Pavilion in Deerfield Beach. At first, he found himself surrounded with patients much older, but now he has friends closer to his age.

It's been 2 ½ years since Jay was diagnosed and things have gotten better.

Along the way, the couple developed their spiritual life.

``We go to church every Saturday night,'' Laura said. ``We have new friends now.'' One friend, a nurse, comes over once a week to give Jay his shots and to make sure his medications are in order.

``It's been an opportunity to change our way of thinking and look at the excesses of our lives,'' Laura said. ``We're ecologically informed. We buy local food. We don't waste water. We have an awesome home. Jay got closer to Natalie, and I have a job I love.''

The couple is closer, too. ``We have a level of love most people never get,'' Laura said. ``Life is really a lot better.''

They believe, too, that there is a reason for the diagnosis, and they are determined to prove that people with Alzheimer's can still contribute.

And they are determined to keep their cherished sense of humor.

After all, says Laura, ``You don't have to know what day it is to be happy.''

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