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There is no way that I will ever be able to describe all that this week has meant to me. I feel as though I have an extended family here in Chillicothe. Your family and friends opened their hearts and their homes to me as if they had known me all of my life. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know them. I guess it is the common thread of Parkinson's Disease that brought us together and it is the common bond of love that knits us together.
It was an awakening experience almost like gazing into a mirror looking upon oneself but seeing into another person's soul. To know someone else is experiencing the same challenges, triumphs, and of course heartache and pain that comes along with living with Parkinson's Disease seemed to comfort my heart. Not that I would wish for anyone to suffer with PD,but the knowing that there are those pwp's out there striving for a common goal and willing to help one another overcome, just for one day, the madness of this disease, has literally caused my heart and mind to be moved beyond words.
There are things that have enraged me about this week that I have had to come to grips with. You see, it is one of those damnable questions I have go through my mind each day. Why does the pd effect each one of us differently? By differently I mean, difference in severity, difference in symptoms,and finally the difference in the speed of progression. Joan, you have had pd for nine years and I have had it going into my nineteenth year. What just drives me nuts is the unfairness of the severity of your symptoms. I almost feel guilty for being as well as I am. Yes, without my medication I would be in critical care nursing, but with my medicines I manage fairly well. Don't get me wrong, I thank God every day for how my body has responded to the method of treatment my neurologists have chosen for me. There was so much I wanted to do to ease your burden, but couldn't, because we are like two peas in a pod; it helps me to maintain my dignity if I do things for myself. One definition to "dignity" is: a calm self-possession. So Joan, I understand your fortitude in accomplishing daily living tasks. It is a mere attempt in accomplishing a calm self-possession. I have an admirable respect for you and a love for you, brought about by you being simply who you are.
Getting on with the program...the interview you and I , along with Carter experienced was another learning experience. Having to think fast on one's feet is a trick within itself. That is one thing I can say for the both of us Pd may have effected our bodies, but our minds are crystal clear. My one and only desire was for my answers to the questions to lead to a more public awareness.
Planning for the art exhibit has been exciting. I feel priveledged for you to have wanted to involve me in the beginning stages of something so important. The impact that some of Janet Scott's pieces have had on my life will be remembered forever. Many of them, I could not even speak; I was so moved. The only thing to do was to weep. The tears were a healing balm.
I wish to thank you Joan, from a depth so far deep within my soul, for all that you are trying and are GOING to accomplish. I know that you do not wish to accomplish these things for yourself, but for ALL of us who are familiar with this disease of Parkinson's. To you, my sister and my friend I wish you the very best of luck.
Sandra Norris
38/28/have had it since
20.
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Joan E. Snyder (47-8-10) <[log in to unmask]>
"In the depths of winter I finally learned there
was in me an invincible summer" Albert Camus
http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/snyder/page1.htm