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>I have a question I would appreciate ANY HONEST comments, advice, >tips, taunts, queries or offers of assistance of any kind. about your dream.... When I was diagnosed with pd I was the single mother of two young teens. I= owned a business that was surviving, but not doing particularly well, due= to the fact that I was afraid to charge for my product was it was really= worth. I undersold myself. Still do in that that regard. It always urked= me that lawyers and other professionals would come into my store, order= something made to order and then quibble about my price which (if I sat= down and figured it out) would probably pay me several $ an hour at most.= Creativity (in that form) and retail are not renowned for their ability to= make you rich. Pd forced me to slow down. Very few people can work as long hours for as= many days as I did and not have repurcussions. I missed wonderful years= with my children because I was so driven to make my business work. I was= out to prove something to myself and others. I ended up selling my store= in 1990, just before the great 'slowdown'. phew! I took about six months= to regroup and then decided one afternoon that I"d better get serious and= get a job. The very next day a friend called to see if I was interested in= working as a girl friday at the accountant's firm where he worked. Never= touched a computer and failed math in highschool, but I went to the= interview and told them that "Since I had no skills at the computer or= keeping books, I had no bad habits to unlearn. I was a fresh sheet of= paper for whatever they chose to write" I started with them the next= Monday. I worked there for the next two years and learned all about= computers. They also initiated a drug/insurance plan because of me and= which enabled me to be able to receive disability insurance when I had to= leave them. Since then I've been forced to slow down, (although some people still think= I do far too much - but that's just me) and do things I love to do.. I= started teaching journal writing classes at our local library, began a pd= support group for Toronto west Young Onset, volunteered at the hospital= gift shop, took up watercolours, had a few shows, (btw, a watercolour of= mine is the Parkinson's Christmas card for this year), wrote a few magazine= articles and just last week was asked to do several guest spots on a local= tv craft show - something I'd love to be able to do on a regualr basis. I was remarried three years ago and inherited a stepdaughter and stepson. = Last Sunday, the last one moved out so I guess I"m an 'empty nester' now,= except for when they come home from university :) I started to write a book about pd but only got as far as a few= articles.....no real plan or focus I guess. I also want to increase= awareness and was even so bold as to think that perhaps I could do some= public speaking about it. (something I would LOVE to do, but know that I"m= not very good) I somehow think that that's my purpose, to tell people= about pd and show them how important the little things in life are, how to= appreciate what they *can* do and not what they can't do, and how important= a positive attitude is (not to be confused with polyanna.....). The major difference between you and I is in the financial ability to= accomplish these things......you seem to be fortunate enough not to have to= worry about money (one of my other dreams...: ) I am also involved in a= double blind study in the States which, although they pay most costs, does= incur extra expenses. It just seemed strange to me that you wrote about= something that has been a secret dream of mine -secret because I have= always felt that if I voiced it people would say, "What you? speak in= public? who would want to hear what you have to say? and to think that= someone would want to pay for it? get real!" and I would slink back to my= little house in the suburbs properly returned to my station in life. sorry for the long letter..... hope I didn't bore you to tears..... Lynda