 |
 |
Hey JR, you must have read me wrong or I wrote something wrong. Your line regarding me and Suport Groups: "And I felt like Vern; I withdrew." is not me. I fully support the idea of support groups. They are invaluable to the care giver and the Parkinsonian. If you go to an "unsatisfying" Support Group, become a participant, NOT an attendee, and help change it to a satisfying Suport Group. Most Support Groups that I am aware of (and there are many) welcome anyone with new and exciting ideas, and will respond. It is all in taking the bull by the horns and doing something with it, much the same way Ed is doing in Miami. What you don't want is an "audience". What you want is participants, and the way you do that is to get as many involved with the Support Group as possible. Give everybody a job, form committies that have a "do-able" goal. Keep things positive (actions and attitudes), be informative, and provide a social event to build communications and esprit de corps. You would be surprised what a Parkinson Golf Team can do for a bunch of people that thought they might never play golf again ...as an example. The same thing happened with our tennis team. It's not how good you do it, but the fact that you try, AND do it. Why don't you go back to that unsatisfying Support Group in Nashville, and light their fire. If it doesn't work, at least you will be satisfied with yourself for trying. Sic 'em, Tiger. AS for me, you can count the number of things I have withdrawn from on one hand ...twice. VernD