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hi ken At 23:30 1998/12/25 EST, you wrote: >An open letter to Don, and the list. This time of year, >when most of the world is either celebrating happy occasions, >just finishing celebrating or about to start them, we have >a few hundred well assorted souls linked together with an >electronic miracle, or at least the beginning of one. hear hear! a miracle is a miracle, small or large and if this list isn't one, i'll eat my hat! >Call it THE LIST, for simplicity. We are here due to a cause >no one can celebrate, it is a "disease", a "curse" a "malady" >a "condition" .. I don't need to name it, just use PD for now. without pd, i wouldn't have experienced this list-miracle ... i dunno ... since i cannot feel discouraged about pd's future i cannot feel resentful about having it i can only feel grateful for what it has shown to me what it has given to me >It has given us all something in common. Sixteen hundred >souls who have a common enemy, but who care about each other >enough to get angry, cry, laugh, be frustrated beyond all >emotions......... Sixteen hundred people to worry about, >feel loneliness for when they are not around. Some of us >can barely move, are frightened, and don't know what to do >next. Too often, those are the ones who are expected to be >strongest! Do the caregivers, or the doctors, or the parents >or the children have the answers? Maybe a few, not enough. >Can we WIN this war against PD? Yes! absolutely! do i have pd? or does pd have me? >Is the LIST perfect? NO! Can we make it better? Yes! ... i dunno ... of course nothing's perfect and nothing ever will be perfect and working towards perfection is part of our job here but how do we conclude what perfection 'should be'? how do we know if something is broken and needs 'fixing'? or if something is simply evolving and changing on its own, has its own life? >CAN we do it without folks like DON??? >i don't want to try without DON! >We need him more than he needs us. absolutely! and you know what? don's expressions of anger and pain and tenacity are just as important as his expressions of joy and love and humour he expresses them all openly without shame without apology someone to learn from, indeed >He is the kind of guy who has the guts >to keep going against all odds. don is our own, live-in, superman chris reeves, watchout! >We don't need any police or guards or watchmen on the list, >we are going to beat the daylights out of PARKINSONS DISEASE, >NOT EACH OTHER! So choose your weapons! Use telephones, computers, >joke books, cook books, libraries, politicians, friends, enemies, >teachers, doctors, pharmacists, whatever it takes......... >Just get on the same side and lets make PARKINSONS a part of the past. ... i dunno ... i'd be happy with a massive reduction/control of symptoms if it meant keeping this list somehow someway call me crazy... >If anyone wants to take the time to post to the list, yowza! and, if i may, dear ken, if anyone ___needs___ to take the time to post to the list, >let's just give them a chance and the benefit of the doubt, >and hope they turn out to be part of the winning battle, okay? we all need understanding, tolerance, compassion to be able to turn the other cheek to be able to forgive we have already been given all of these things if we only look if we can only admit it and we need to give in the same measure as we receive >PS: Don, don't get MAD, get EVEN!!! >Our new motto: A CURE FOR SURE! >That's all I have to say right now, >and I trust it is enough! thank you, ken janet janet paterson - 51 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada [log in to unmask]