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"...Cause I Come So Together Where You Are..." These are the words to an old song by Fleetwood Mac called "Sentimental Lady" ...and they just happen to aptly put some of the emotions that I had the honor & privilege to experience this past week with my family while down in Morganton, N.C.What a wondrous experience and a true lesson in giving back something to the world of your bounty of gifts!!! You cannot imagine how truly nice, good, honest, hard-working and decent people can be until you see it up close and personal like I had the opportunity last week.......And, as Father Ken pointed out-what a marvelous testimony to the power of good provided by the internet! We left, not knowing what to expect, but we headed south with a dream in our hearts, bags packed and golf clubs (Ali's & Stan's)-the back section of our station wagon like a stacked locker! Our first stop at nearly 11:30 that night, was at the welcoming home of my chat room buddy-Wink's house. Altho we had never met, we knew each other so very well from our conversations online-that when we hugged, it was as if we had known each other for years! After a good night's sleep and a wonderful breakfast and tour of her backyard, we were on the road again-this time heading for the beautiful mountains of Tennessee; there to meet and have lunch with Brenda and Peg; two woman whom I had yet to meet but once again felt as if we had memories back to childhood together. I wonder if sharing the same disease as these women made it seem as though our fiendship was as old as these beautiful Smokey Mountains. Anyway, what a mental & spiritual bonding we all experienced and how we could say exactly what the other meant....and of course all these women loved Stan & the kids as well. Then, onto the last leg of our journey, up and down and over and through those beautiful mountains until we came upon our host: mleo (mike), waiting to lead us to his house in Morganton, North Carolina.Getting out of the car was a new experience in light-headedness and no balance for this parkie!! -talk about your sea legs!! Inside was mike's wife-the lovely and multi-talented caregiver to mike's pd; Mary. Soon they were leading us up farther into the mountains to the cabin that belonged to Helen & Joe-friends of Mike & Mary's from church who had graciously invited us to stay in a real log cabin built in the 1920's and I must interject that this rustic cabin home had all of the amenities of a 5-Star hotel with a few bugs thrown in for atmosphere!! If there is ever to be a real life commercial in my life-this would be it-drinking my french vanilla on their screened in back porch, watching the sunlight poke through the trees and waiting for my meds to kick in!! There was little time for reflection on that first Saturday morning, however, as we were soon at the church, getting on the bus that would take our road weary bones into Charlotte where we attend, along with Mike, Mary, Helen & Joe & about 1,750 others, the Ordination Mass as Christopher Gober (the son of my dear friend Mary from down the street & brother of Megan-who is Ali & Mitch's friend), Matt Kauth & other men as they became Catholic priests. Needless to say, it was a powerful & beautiful experience. The next day was filled with cooking and trips back & forth to the airport in Charlotte and even a golf game thrown in there somehow. No matter how stress-filled and rushed they were, Mike & Mary were always the perfect hosts: kind, lovely people with a real charm & warmth about them. That first evening, at our meeting at the church to discuss plans for the upcoming week and to get to know each other, I marveled at this thing called Parkinson's Disease. I hate this disease and I will spend every once of energy combating it & promoting awareness of its ravages. But without PD, I would certainly never have come to this place, to be counted among these heroes and certainly never at a place where people were known only by chatroom identities! The evening was one of hope, of camaraderie and plans: to build a house with Habitat For Humanity for a young couple who were themselves disabled (she from MS & he had lost both legs to spinal menengitious), both in wheelchairs. The next morning, Stan was off at the crack of dawn to join the crew at the jobsite. It rained off & on all day and made for a somewhat soggy though cool working day. As the kids were too young to be at the jobsite and I felt more of a hindrance than a help, we stayed at the hotel with most of the other women, who had wisely decided to stay out of the way of the run-away freight train of a crew into which the men had instantly bonded. On Tuesday evening, everyone came out to our cabin, so the day was spent cooking and preparing for a late evening dinner with the plucky and wonderful Naomi who had come all the way from New Hampshire. The men & Allison had to play golf after work-priorities, you realize. And we spent another evening meshing into a friendship that only PWP’s & those who love them, can fathom. We even had enough food left over for the local soup kitchen the next day! On Wednesday, after a day of back-breaking work by the men and several of the hardier women, it was announced that we were 3 days ahead of schedule-quite a thrill for all of us-especially the workers! After work, we attended a healing Mass at Mike’s church: Catholic, Jewish, Baptist-all in-between-all asking the same God to give us strength & courage, if not a cure. Then we went to a dinner provided by a friend of our hostess Mary and to yet another emotional high point. Caz, our dear sweet, thoughtful Caz, had assembled a quilt made up of squares from as far away as New Zealand & Africa-a virtual Joseph’s coat of many colors-each sent in by people from the chatroom & presented it to the new homeowners who had spent many hours watching their new home being constructed. There was not a dry eye in the house and then sweet friend Sassy, who has dealt with PD for over half of her life, took the floor to read a story of past colliding with the present in a beautiful story of faith & love as she presented the couple with a handmade afghan begun years ago by her grandmother and recently finished-everyone was openly wiping tears from their eyes! D2 from the room also had some of his handiwork to present to both the couple and to our fearless leader. Everyone was drained from emotion and high on love this night. On Thursday it was our day to play and boy did we enjoy ourselves! Stan & BC took to the links while everyone else piled into vans to head up to Grandfather mountain-the highest point in the Great Smokey Mountains….it is not in my power to describe the awesome power & beauty of this experience. Suffice to say that one comes away from this believing in a good & gracious God. The afternoon was spent shopping in the quaint little shops of Blowing Rock. Worn and weary but exhilarated by our day, we spent the night at the hotel The next morning, amid tears & promises, we left Morganton-all of us changed in some way-all of us better people for going there.