( CNN ) -- It is such a cruel disease , one that can sneak up on a person and catch him unawares . The last time I saw Bobby Vee , he seemed just fine . The name will be familiar to many of you , but today 's column is intended just as much for those readers who are too young to remember him . He was one of the young rock-and-roll idols of the early 1960s . His hits included `` Take Good Care of My Baby , '' `` The Night Has a Thousand Eyes , '' `` Run to Him '' and `` Rubber Ball . '' He continued to tour as the years went by . We were on an Italian ocean liner in the first weeks of 2009 . The ship had been booked by a company presenting a different early-years-of-rock act in concert each evening in the big theater onboard . Bobby was one of the performers ; I was there with the Jan and Dean band . One midnight after the show , somewhere off the coast of the Dominican Republic , I was walking around an upper deck and saw that Bobby was taking a walk , too . We met up and talked about some of his first recordings . His recall was precise and acute ; he gave me details of what the sessions had been like . He is a gentleman , and a gentle man . Walking and talking with him was a wonderful way to end the day at sea . So I was startled to hear recently that he is battling Alzheimer 's disease , the irreversible , progressive brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking skills . It is estimated that more than 5 million Americans suffer from it , a number that is only expected to increase unless advances in treatment and prevention are achieved . The federal government recently announced new initiatives that , it is hoped , will add urgency to the efforts . The millions of families dealing with Alzheimer 's are aware of its devastation . But when people with familiar names -- Ronald Reagan , Glen Campbell -- are blindsided by it , the world tends to stop , and think , and try to learn . What we can learn from Bobby Vee is how to face adversity with genuine grace and perspective . He is 69 ; in a letter to his friends and fans , he said that it was a little over a year ago that he was diagnosed with the initial stages of Alzheimer 's . Getting the news , he said , `` was a moment that stunned my family and myself to the core . Since this time I have chosen to remain private and to focus on what is most important to me : my family and my music . It has been a time to reflect and to just be . To create memories for my grandchildren and to celebrate life 's goodness . To throw baseballs and catch fish . To be the audience . ... `` Shortly after this all came down , I hopped into an RV with my family and we embarked on a little odyssey from Minnesota to Tucson , AZ . Together we explored the depths of our reality . ... the depths of my reality . With very few words , no solutions and a lot of heart , we did what we do . We shared time . We shared laughter , tears , stories , meals and music . We shared thousands of miles of hi-way as familiar to us as the pillows on our beds . As if nothing had changed , as if everything had changed . ... `` So without a song or a script I am stepping onto a stage that we all share : the mystery of life . While in Tucson we set up some amps and drums in the garage ... We just did what we have always done , only this time there was no stage . There were no spotlights and no audience . We made music every day for a week ... just for us . For the joy of making music . For the joy of being together . For all of the reasons I ever picked up a guitar or sang a tune in a Fargo , N.D. garage back in '59 . I have truly come full circle ! We played songs I grew up with , songs the kids grew up with , songs we wrote , songs that had meaning and memories for us all . No agenda , no set list , no tickets to sell ... This was all we have ever done , and all we could do . So we did it . '' When you are young you never think that Alzheimer 's will enter your own life . But unless something is done to defeat the disease , years from now people who are today young and strong will be fighting it , and -- when the disease strikes their favorite actors , athletes and singers who are in 2012 so full of youth and energy , and who will inevitably grow old -- they , too , will be reminded of the passing years , and of life 's memories lost and found . Bobby Vee was at one time the kid wonder of kid wonders . He was only 15 when , the night after Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in that 1959 Iowa charter-plane crash , he was recruited to somehow help make the show go on at the tour 's next stop in Moorhead , Minnesota . He and his friends from nearby Fargo filled in that night , and his career began . He and his band were much admired in that Minnesota/North Dakota area . A young piano player , wanting to make music with Bobby Vee , showed up and asked to play in some shows . He said his name was Elston Gunn , which it was n't . Later he would choose another name : Bob Dylan . In Dylan 's autobiography , he writes with great regard , warmth and true professional respect for Vee , starting with the days when they were both little more than kids ( `` Bobby Vee and me had a lot in common , even though our paths would take such different directions ... Bobby had a metallic , edgy tone to his voice and it was as musical as a silver bell. '' ) . These are especially tense hours for the Vee family . He wrote in that letter about his Alzheimer 's diagnosis : `` My beautiful wife of 48 years , Karen , is also dealing with serious health issues as we await a lung transplant for her at Duke University . '' Last week , Bobby 's son Jeff told me that the operation had been performed the night before , and that the family is praying for the best outcome . As Bobby neared the end of the letter to his friends and fans , he wrote : . `` We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for every musical moment we 've shared . It has truly been a magical odyssey . We have been blessed ... and the road goes on . '' The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene .
Bobby Vee says one 's pop star Vee is suffering from Alzheimer 's . He says since diagnosis , Vee has tried to spend good time with friends , family . In letter to friends , fans , he writes movingly about his new priorities as his memory fails . Vee : Any of us could get Alzheimer 's . Bobby Vee 's grace in handling his is inspirational .