Janet, I like your philosophy, thanks for sharing.  I have m. Scott's peck's
saying typed in a neat font that fits it on my wall in front of my computer:
LIfe is difficult, Misery is Optional.  I actually typed it up for a coworker at
work who is always complaining...  She keeps hers on her desk to remind her that
life needn't be as difficult as she sometimes makes it.

I also have another saying on my wall that has helped my attitude in dealing
with my PD..."I will not let tomorrow's possibilities rob me of today's
pleasures" which I lifted from a PD Internet buddy's e-mail,  Barbara Worcester
whose inspiring words can be found on the net in
Writer's corner which I found under Links at the Parkinson's Network site.
I don't have their exact address on e-mail, but if you search for Frontlines,
you'll find it.  j

Cheers,

Brenda



janet paterson wrote:

> hi all
>
> At 07:17 1999/11/07 -0600, paul wrote to me, in part:
> >... Apparently you are not familiar with truly advanced
> >cases of PD.  My father died of complications after 13
> >years.  ...  My mother took care of him to the very end
> >but you apparently do not have a clue what some
> >caregivers go thru.  It takes a VERY special person to
> >cope.  And, yes, it could destroy a family --- mentally.
> >... Death was a blessing --- but what a hell of a way to
> >die...
>
> hi paul,
>
> i appreciate your comments
> your father and your family obviously had a difficult time
> i was with my father as he struggled for two years with throat cancer in 1977
> i was with my mother as she was overcome by heart problems in 1964
>
> in my view
> perception of any situation 'tragedy' or 'blessing'
> is in the eye [and heart and soul] of the beholder i.e. the percept-or
> and is tinted by the lenses the percept-or uses to look through
>
> the old saw
> about 'sauces and gooses and ganders and gravies'
> hits the mark [even though i can't remember exactly how it goes]
> in the same way that the 'glass being half full or half empty' classic does
>
> >...On another subject that I have been wanting to write
> >to you about ----- you comment about being afraid to
> >have a surgery to relieve your PD.  You better get over
> >it girl!!!!   My brother says there is very little pain
> >involved with a biSTN...
>
> pain holds no terror for me
> it is other aspects of surgery that i fear, going back to childhood trauma
>
> i know that i could do some work on overcoming that fear
> maybe editing and posting the-hole-in-the-head-gang-stories
> is part of that work [?!]
>
> my views on tragedies and blessings and surgeries and illness
> are created and coloured by me and my experiences
> and by the way i choose to interpret them
>
> the fact that i had a choice was not apparent to me most of my life
> until i read m. scott peck's declaration 'life is difficult'
> in 'the road less traveled'
>
> that shift in perception
> ['the scales fell from my eyes']
> was the catalyst for a significant change in my 'lens prescription'
> going all the way back to april 1990
> when i thought the bottom of my world had fallen out from under me
> not because of my pd diagnosis 18 months earlier
> but because of my discovery [piled on top of several other losses]
> that my four month old [first] marriage had been a mistake and was over
>
> we are
> where we have been
>
> janet
>
> janet paterson
> 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset
> e-mail - [log in to unmask]
> web-site -  http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/