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Jim - I don't think the oldtimers have forgotten what it's like to be scared, etc. I have a theory about the frequent quarrels that erupt. My theory is that PD is so darned difficult to deal with that both PWP and caregivers are frustrated and angry pretty darned often. Mr. Parkinson has taken up residence in my home, uninvited, and made my life and my husband's much more difficult than it has to be, and taken a toll on our patience, our family life, our pocketbook, etc. There are days that I use every ounce of my patience, as caregiver, not to scream at the sheer difficulty of living with a PWP. No doubt Dick is equally frustrated at being the PWP, with all the difficulties this entails. If this were a temporary condition and I knew there'd be improvement within a week or a month, I could grit my teeth and get through it. But knowing that today is as good as it gets makes it a lot more difficult - at least on my not-so-good days. There are times I can sit back and think about how fortunate we are to live in this country, where the medical help is so much better than if we lived many other places. And to live comfortably, with all the modern conveniences. I can also appreciate the fact that Dick is doing exceptionally well for someone who has had PD for 18 years. I do admire his determination to hang in there and not let PD stop him, no matter how difficult some things are for him. Nevertheless, I'm having to do things, or learn to do things, that I wouldn't have expected to do in the normal course of events. I'm all too human, and there are times that I'm simply seeing the half-empty glass, and feel the anger and frustration of dealing with the day-to-day losses and difficulties PD has brought into our lives. Dick faces having to give up control or responsibility for things he always expected to take care of, and I'm having to do, or learn to do, those things in his place, on top of the things I've always taken care of, at a time in my life when I'm older and have less energy and stamina. It's at those "half-empty" times that something someone says or writes is likely to hit me wrong, and, being unable to strike out at the uninvited and unwelcome Mr. Parkinson, I find myself taking my anger and frustration out on the hapless person who happened to cross my path at the wrong time. This has been pretty long, and I don't know if I've managed to make my point after all this. I just think that we're all operating at such a high level of stress and difficulty at all times that we don't have the tolerance for each other that we'd have had in other circumstances. I suspect we're all nice people underneath it all - or used to be, pre-PD. Hang in there and don't let the quarrels get in the way of the very real help and support this list brings. Margie Swindler