I love your story, Jerry. You and the horses saved each other. And I think
that's usually the way it works out. I know your horses are an
inspiration -- but so are you. Debbie

Debbie White

[log in to unmask]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of J Finch
> Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 2:02 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Hero?
>
>
> OK, guys, none of this "hero" stuff. I thank you for
> the praise, but let me tell you about the real heroes.
>
> Jim West's story in the Dallas paper and his affection
> to the little pony struck a strong chord in my memory.
> Like Jim, I've grown up and grown old but I still have
> a "I wanna' be a cowboy when I grow up" child in me.
> This little child loves horses, loves being with them,
> watching them, hugging them, loves them because they,
> to me, are the most awe inspiring of all animals.
>
> A couple of years ago I spent my time sitting in my
> living room, hunched over the computer, writing stories
> and cussing the PD that kept pulling me downhill.
> Walking bothered me, the keyboard was becoming
> impossible, my wife was talking about moving to a place
> where I didn't have to do anything, thinking that the
> day was fast approaching that I couldn't do anything.
>
> Margaret Tuchman called me one night, just to chat.
> Over the course of several months we developed a loving
> relationship over the phone, the discourse finally
> leading me to tell her about my love of horses and my
> hatred of those who abuse them. "There is no place for
> the abused, weak, homeless horses other than a final
> trip to the slaughterhouse," I would tell her.
>
> "Then make a place," she answered.
>
> "You're joking. I have PD. I stumble, I fall a lot, I
> shake. There's no way I can start a horse rescue."
>
> That continued for a few more weeks, me complaining
> about the injustice of it all, her telling me to get
> off my butt and do something. The woman has no pity.
>
> I started a nonprofit corporation, did the IRS
> paperwork and suddenly horses started showing up at my
> door. Someone donated 27 acres of undeveloped land,
> someone else donated enough money to buy a 100 acre
> sanctuary, volunteers started coming out, kids started
> hanging around the stalls instead of the streets....
>
> Months later it suddenly dawned on me that my PD
> symptoms were almost gone.
>
> The guy who had a hard time walking across the living
> room was up at 3am, walking a sick horse around in the
> dark. The guy who once shook like a terrified rabbit
> was calming a shaking horse down with soft words and
> gentle touches. They weren't curing me of PD, but they
> had taking my PD away just the same.
>
> There's a magic pill in every horse hug, a calming in
> every neigh. And it isn't just me. I see the same
> result in others with neurological problems. If I
> could, I'd package up a horse and send one to each of
> you so you could see what I'm talking about.
>
> Margaret is the hero for these horses. The horses are
> my heroes. They not only have the will to live no
> matter what happens to them, they have given me the
> will to overcome PD and the opportunity to help others
> do the same.
>
> "Stop dreaming about it. Just do it," Margaret told me
> one night. Her words should be burned into stone for
> PDers. Her drive for the Parkinson Alliance and its
> efforts at funding a cure for PD, her push for the
> publication of  "From the Parking Lot," and the
> hundreds of other things she has been involved in came
> from her desire to stop listening to the dreams of
> PDers and start pushing them to see their dreams become
> a reality. Habitat for Horses would not exist had it
> not been for her.
>
> Now I have the same attitude - there is a way for each
> of us to make our life better. Drawing the focus away
> from PD, being involved in something - anything - other
> than the daily on/off cycle of our pills. My cure is
> inside the eyes of a horse (and I firmly believe a lot
> of other PDers can find the cure there). For others it
> might be something totally different, but it still
> involves the power of our mind and our demanding
> control over our own future.
>
> Thanks, Murray, for the "hero" badge. Jim West's pony
> and my horses are our heroes, so I'm going to go out
> and give my badge to them. We all have a "pony" in our
> childhood and maybe, just maybe, that child is trying
> to tell us something. Stop dreaming about it, just do
> it.
>
> Jerry
> --
> Help us save the horses! Habitat for Horses, Inc.
> A lifetime home for abused, endangered horses.
> http://www.habitatforhorses.org/