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Marvin... dear, dear Marvin. You've been thru so much and are STILL so wonderfully, vulnerably, openly HUMAN. You share that humanness in your List posts and I think by doing that you help to make the rest of us more in tune with the vulnerable humanness within us all. THANKS, Marvin! I just love that about you! Warm huggles at ya... Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange on behalf of Marvin Giles Sent: Sunday, September 14, 1997 10:53 PM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Have I done enough? Have I done enough? Some 36 years ago a child asked this question as, holding onto the wall, he fought his way to breakfast. On arriving at the table he heard his mother say, "the chair is in your room, use it". That day the choice was made for him and no answer was offered or given. Today an adult faces the question again. Tomorrow I go to be measured for a powered chair. Without knowing it, some friends brought this question to mind. My wife, Kristen, sat through a flood of tears as a frightened adult asked a small boy's questions. Have I done everything I can to prevent needing this chair? Have I tried every trick, used every solution? Has every room been explored, every weapon tested? Have I fought long enough, tried hard enough? The frightened child wants an answer but the adult knows the answer can only be found within himself. The truth is I may only get that answer when God totals the score. Until then, this will do. I have done and I am currently doing everything I know to do to continue to do as much as I can for as long as I can. Sounds like a declaration of war, even to me. Well, it is. It is a battle for independence begun by a child of ten and continued by an adult of forty six. The difference between the child and the adult are many. But one I hold to are friends. The child was basically alone, I won't go into that. But I have friends. At home and work they offer love, support, and encouragement. I have other friends as well, friends in Australia, Denmark, Sweden, The United States, and, well everywhere! I want to thank these friends from #Parkinsons, some of you got the edge of a problem that's building for a while. But one of you caught Sunday what was left after Kristen handled the worst of the tears. I thought I had handle on it but the words just tumbled out. Thank you ever so much for listening. I'll let you know the model and color as soon as I know them. Marvin Giles \ WerPuppy