Rick:
    Now you are talking like you should be. Please keep up your spirits.
Soon you will be an example for others.
    All the best.
    Raj
******

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick McGirr <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 11:22 PM
Subject: Joy


> I used to complain a lot.  I guess I still do.  I used to have a
> roommate who would tell me, "Just be happy in your work."  Well, fine,
> but now I'm facing a future where my chosen work will not be possible.
> Or will it?  I have spent my adult life as a piano player, and my
> skills will probably continue to erode.  If I can no longer play, the
> one thing that has brought me joy, as well as income, how can I find
> joy?  By staying in music.  I have an aesthetic which is valid.  Why
> can I not express it by using studio recording methods, or by using
> software as a tool for notating my compositions?  I can also help my
> son, also a musician, by being his studio engineer and mentor.
>
> Sure, I've lost, and will continue to lose, but I still thank my lucky
> stars that I don't have a host of other conditions that I see as worse
> than my PD.  And even if I can't be the 'star of the show', maybe I
> can even have more influence behind the scenes.  I also have a really
> good life, and a wonderful, beautiful family, and I rejoice in them
> every day.
>
> I have been receiving lots of fine advice from some people on the
> listserv, and what it boils down to is that I should do a lot of
> research on PD, find something that I can do to provide income and
> fulfillment, and not fret about what I can't do anymore.  I know that
> if my favorite athletes can start over after they retire, then so can
> I.  I figure I have to be smarter than at least half the pro athletes
> in the world.  Some of them do well, and some of them don't.  What's
> the difference?  Attitude.  Attitude is also the key factor in a sales
> career, or any other endeavor.
>
> I have also received advice from someone who does not have PD, but has
> plenty of problems resulting from an accident and many surgeries.  His
> road has been a tough one, and he will suffer permanent loss of some
> ability.  The minute I mentioned to him that I had PD, I got a lecture
> about not feeling sorry for myself, not for one minute.  I thought,
> well, this guy is ten times worse off than I am now.  How many years
> do I have before I get as bad as he is now?  And when I get that bad,
> he has shown me that I can fight on and on, if I have the strength of
> will.  I have resolved to keep plugging, not give up, to hang around
> if only just to be a pain in the ass.
>
> I have a lot of admiration for people like yourselves, who have come
> through hell and still have the same determination, that if life is
> going to try to take you down, you're going to fight to the last, and
> make as much of a mark as you can, either in public, or in the family,
> or wherever.  Face the worst with courage, and you will be remembered.
> Face the worst with humor, and you will be looked up to, especially if
> you're really tall, like me.
>
> Anyway, today I will settle for my situation over that of the average
> residents of coastal areas of Sri Lanka.
>
> Thanking my lucky stars.
>
> Enjoy!
> Rick McGirr
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
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