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Hi Jane... I've been thinking 'bout your comments about Alan's "ministry" and ya know, m'dear.... he really took it way beyond the religious. He touched so many people from such diverse ethnicities and religious beliefs that in picturing Alan (and while we'd exchanged the occasional email for three years, I've only physically seen him once, when he spoke before my PD support group last February), I see him ministering to all humankind, without regards to any man-made boundries. Alan's depth of caring and support transcended those limitations placed upon us by birth and culture and it was beautiful to see. As you said, Alan was a "missionary extroadinaire..." Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] ---------- From: PARKINSN: Parkinson's Disease - Information Exchange Network on behalf of [log in to unmask] Sent: Monday, August 19, 1996 8:30 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Alan Bonander Thank you, all of you, for your wonderful words about my husband. We celebrated our thirty-third wedding anniversary in June, and I wanted to share with you a part of Alan that you probably didn't know. He was "the son of a preacher-man." His father, both grandparents, and on and on back into history, there had been ministers and missionaries in his family. But Alan marched to a different drummer, no matter how many times his mother urged, in her subtle way, that he follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. His analytical mind was ripe for the computer age, and he was a genius at it. Then along came Parkinson's. That nasty, greedy disease that began to rob him of his strength, his desire to work with his hands, his outer-self. It was Dr. Matt Kurth and his infusion therapy that turned things around for Alan. I'm afraid I would have lost him years before had it not been for that perfect timing. Then, because of his infusion and his interest in his disease, he became the minister, the missionary his parents had wanted him to be. I have no doubt of this, especially when I read all of your comments. Sharing what he knew gave him pleasure. I will admit that many times I cursed the computer age, for he spent hours and hours and hours on the internet, sharing, advising, helping, while I wondered if he would ever take a few minutes out for himself. The thing was, he WAS doing this for himself. It made him feel good. On rare occasions, the phone would ring and he'd tell me he wasn't able to talk to whomever called. It was important that he be there for everyone. If that isn't a ministry, I don't know what is. I'll miss him. This has been a very difficult thing for me to write, because it leaves my feelings raw. But it had to be done. Again, I thank each of you for your thoughts and prayers. He was a great husband and father. Brother and son-in-law. My parents couldn't have loved him more if he were there own. And he was a missionary extrordinaire. Best always, Jane Bonander