My Parkinson Story is a weekly column featuring member of our community, sharing their stories with PD. We are interested in sharing a wide array of experiences, including yours! PD looks different in everyone, and affects everyone differently, including friends and family of those with PD. If you’d like to share your story on our blog, please email us.
Janet and her father walking down the aisle at her wedding.
My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s sometime after 2000, and died from complications of PD in 2007. Unfortunately I didn’t know then what I know now about all of the therapies and help there is in Cincinnati for Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers.
Fast forward to 2012. Mary Kamp, a good friend of mine, asked if I would be interested in playing for a dance class for people with Parkinson’s. I agreed to accompany the Wednesday afternoon dance class in the summer of 2012. A few months after that, I added a short segment during class to work on vocal stamina, breathing and volume, all of which are issues for PWPs. Soon afterwards, some people in the class expressed that they wanted to start a choir so that we could address vocal issues in more depth. So, with a grant from Parkinson Support & Wellness, the Steady Strides Singers began in January of 2013.
Ironically, as an undergrad music major, I had always been interested in music therapy, but that program wasn’t offered where I got my bachelor’s degree and I had never pursued it. Thanks to Parkinson’s Wellness, I am now working in an area of that field, and it is incredibly rewarding. There are no words for the joy I feel when seeing people speak, sing and move with more confidence and strength than they had before. Also, the
ability to provide a place to gather in community is priceless for people who are often isolated. Most importantly, the resilience and grace of the PWPs I have met and now count as friends is a blessing and gift that inspires me every day.
Steady Strides Singers meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month.