 |
 |
Listserv Friends: Much ink has already been spilled, and much more will be, on the awful events of Tuesday in New York and Washington. Several of our Listserv friends have shared their own reflections and good wishes with those of us who live in these places. Touched deeply by their thoughtfulness, I have a modest observation of my own to share with you. There are many emotions we experience in response to an event of this kind - anger, of course, frustration, compassion, helplessness, and - especially for those of us who live in high profile places--dashes of fear. Natural as these reactions are, indulging them rarely does much for us. They may make us weep, rage or cower but in different ways they all remind us of our impotence in the face of circumstances beyond our control -- and this is neither ennobling nor gratifying. There is another reaction, though, and this I personally find more helpful: simple wonder at the fragility and preciousness of life. When you come down to it, what really separates me from, say, another 60-ish, healthy man who was, at the crucial moment, in the buildings, those signature symbols of New York that have also been an almost personal part of my own landscape, and that of my wife and daughters, for almost 30 years? A chance decision, that's what - whether to take a certain job, or to sleep late that day, or to change a date with the state tax people, or to take my morning run to the north rather than to the south. Had any of these decisions, for me or for him, been different, I could have been there and he, somewhere else. Where does an observation like this take us? For me, over the past two days, there has been a powerful sense of being given a new lease on life, one that was tragically denied to another but has been allowed to me. One way this plays out is in renewed awareness of love for my family and friends. Another is in a sense of obligation to try to "live for two" - to build, to lead, to contribute to my community, in ways that simultaneously honor both his lost chance and my second chance, temporary though this must be. Unlike the other reflections I mentioned, this one is potent, invigorating, empowering. And I, with enormous good fortune, have somewhere to direct these new energies: the Parkinson's community, my vocational home for more than five years, my enduring source of inspiration and my "cause": working to end a disease as quickly as we can, while supporting its victims as fully as we are able. May God be with us all. Robin Elliott, Executive Director, Parkinson's Disease Foundation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn