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Paula: Nothing "dumb" about a gracious, hopeful and creative wish. It certainly caught my fancy. Dealing with PD is a relentless difficult process - and some days are really awful! I don't know what your situation is, but as the caregiver of someone with 15 plus - mostly good - years of PD, I am just finding out how hard it can be. Nothing extraordinary for those of you who have been there - and beyond. For my husband, other major medical problems, a marked increase in "off" periods with far less reliable mobility, short-term memory problems and decrease in over-all level of independence are certainly changing his life (and, needless to say, mine) in ways we could not have anticipated, even though we are quite knowledgeable about PD. Are any of us ( patient or caregiver) REALLY prepared to deal with the worst that PD may deliver? We each do the best we can, but I think it helps to consciously rally our best inner resources (i.e. problem-solving skills, humor, creative self-expression, knowledge seeking, activism) and find sources for support and sharing - as we are doing.here. Under these circumstances, nothing is "dumb." I suspect that survivng this ordeal - at whatever stage of the illness - also requires the ability to not let PD totally define who we are (the person with PD or the caregiver). There is more to us than that - altho sometimes it is easy to forget! Paula, I hope that tomorrow will be a better day - for all of us. Keep that champagne on the ice! Best regards, Sue ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn