Blog
My entire life I was daddy’s little girl. My dad was the bravest, funniest, smartest, most hardworking, cleverest, handiest man I ever knew. He taught me so many things. I remember the day he and mom came home from the doctor and told my brother and I about his diagnosis. I was shocked and scared. I had no idea what to expect, but it sounded bad.
Almost five years ago I retired from a 35-year career in telecommunication sales and began in earnest to design the rest of my life. I had always planned to include a component of “giving back” to the community and started a search for a not-for-profit organization that could benefit from my experience in business.
Five years ago, when I was diagnosed with PD, I wrote an article for the PSW newsletter. The tile was “My New Reality”. I expected the diagnosis, as our son had been dealing with Parkinson’s for about 15 years, and as a volunteer with the Parkinson Support & Wellness Organization, I had many opportunities to learn about PD. I knew too much about the symptoms I was experiencing. At least I did not have to deal with denial.
In September, 2013, I was at a church festival and Rob, a friend of mine, was watching me walk across a field. I was really limping badly, and he realized he had never really noticed how I walked. For the first time, He Saw Me Walking, and he decided to ask me why I had so much trouble. I told him about dystonia and he told me that he was aware of a device that might help me walk normally.
On race day you can find me running around, eating a goetta slider, or with my team Snags Snails. I've often been asked what that name means: Snag is a nickname that my Dad received as a kid after receiving a snaggletooth in a sledding accident, and Snails just felt appropriate because we are NOT a running family.
In late 1998 a friend was visiting at my home when my husband came home from work. She asked me if he had had a stroke as he seemed to be pulling his left leg forward more than stepping by leading with his knee. Several months earlier he had started a new job which required him to drive back and forth weekly between northern Ohio to be with our daughter and me on weekends and to Cincinnati where he worked Monday through Friday. I hadn’t noticed his altered gait.
More than 12 years ago, Mark Schroder, then a board member of Tri-State Parkinsons & Wellness (TPW), a predecessor to Parkinsons Support & Wellness (PSW), asked me to join the board of directors of TPW. Mark knew that my late father had Parkinsons so he expected I would be interested in working with TPW. As TPW has evolved into PSW, I have had a wonderful and rewarding experience serving on these boards.
The group for newly diagnosed Parkinson's patients continues to be a success story. I am forging ahead with a proposed regular date and time, and several participants have said they are looking forward to continuing the group. I also was contacted by a local physical therapist who has two newly diagnosed patients interested in joining a group. I never thought I would be in a leadership role, but this is one gift that Parkinson's has given me.
Growing up in a wonderful, loving and caring family as the eldest of three siblings (brother Dave, and sister Becky) my parents instilled in us the importance of "being kind to everyone you meet because you never know what battles people are fighting" along with love, determination, goal-setting, religious beliefs and responsibility to name a few.
