October 28, 2010
Maple trees Fuzzy slippers Leeks Watercolor paints Tuesdays and Fridays, yoga class days
October 16, 2010
Some pairings go together naturally: dark chocolate and red wine; my dog and her tennis ball; Starsky and Hutch. But when did ‘gentle’ and ‘Parkinson’s’ become synonymous? Look at the local gym or online. Classes, books, DVDs list Gentle and Yoga alongside Parkinson’s and a litany of other disorders, as though slowing down the pace and setting a chair on the mat is an elixir for anyone with a neurological condition. Meet Joe. He’s a marathoner. At 60, he started competing in ultra marathons. He has lived with Parkinson’s for more than 30 years. Chris is a cyclist. He recently rode a century – 100 miles in one day. His route was a particularly hilly one. Doug rode across Alaska solo this summer. Both live with PD; both are in their 50s. Pam dances, David runs. We walk, swim, and hike. Speaking of hiking, the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland is […]
October 13, 2010
From the Opening Ceremony right through to the final playful Brain Game session, the World Parkinson Congress in Glasgow, Scotland, elicited laughter, tears, and much thought. Opening Ceremony Attendees included health professionals as well as those living with PD. At the opening ceremony, those who’d conceived and created this summit of minds and bodies gave a brief history and announced that the third Congress is scheduled for 2013 in Montreal. Another speaker focused on the future, with a plea for urgency. This thirty-nine-year-old father of two young children called for urgency toward awareness – this is not a disease of the elderly, he’d said – as well as urgency toward better treatment, toward a cure. The two winning entries from the video conference, shown on a huge screen, each gave those in the auditorium without PD an inside look at living each day. And to those of us living with […]