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Hello all, My name is Joan Gardner (jgardner.mgmt.purdue.edu). I work for Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. I was born and raised (an only child) in Syracuse, NY--married about 10 years ago and we moved to Lafayette. My parents still live in Syracuse, NY--and about 6 years ago my mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's. She did quite well up until about 6 months ago when she started a rather major downward turn. She can no longer communicate, write--anything, must be fed her meals, taken to the bathroom; and my father informed me on Sunday that her legs are giving out more and more and she is leaning quite heavily on him--and we won't even start to talk about the falls she has had. They are both 75 years old--and (when I was growing up) were very independent people. My father has always been the introvert and mom the outgoing people-person. It has been quite a shock for him to take over paying bills, making household decisions, etc. He has started leaning more and more on me (which is good--if I can help at all I want to)--and we communicate at least weekly. If anyone has any information that may help us to deal with what else may be down the road for us--please pass it along. My purpose is to make it as easy as possible for my parents in this stage of their lives. If dad and I can anticipate some of these things ahead of them happening; it may help to "soften the blow" for mom. She still seems to know everything that is going on around her, but she is unable to tell us what she wants to communicate. Thank you. Joan Gardner (jgardner.mgmt.purdue.edu) School of Management Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-1310