Parkinson’s: Times Like These

“Longevity is having a chronic disease – and taking care of it.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius

Precis: Today marks an anniversary of sorts. It is the 250th blog post for the “Journey with Parkinson’s.”

“All great things have small beginnings.” Peter Senge

Back to the Beginning: There were four anticipated goals for starting this blog. These reasons were presented in the first blog post (03/09/2015) entitled “I’m Still Here: Journey with Parkinson’s:”
(1) Educate by presenting and defining Parkinson’s.
(2) Highlight recent scientific advances in Parkinson’s research. 
(3) Describe new medical advances, clinical trials, and novel strategies [both traditional and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches] for dealing with Parkinson’s.
(4) Present the details of my Parkinson’s and the strategy used to attempt to slow progression.

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Laozi

Mission Mostly Accomplished: For the most part, I have remained true to these goals over the past seven years, seven months, and 25 days since beginning the blog. It has been a labor of love, sweat, and tears. Although I write each blog for you and a targeted audience, I write them for me, to go back to about a specific point in my life or to remind me about something I truly believed a month, a year, or over the years ago. I have had some blog posts that were incredibly well-received and widely read, many more that were well-received, and some that were hardly noticed. And I have written about many topics over the years. Considering the wealth of information about Parkinson’s, I have a lot of ideas for the next 250 blog posts. But if there is a specific topic you want me to research and write about, please send me a note (frank.church@gmail.com).

“Positive people have more friends which is a key factor of happiness and longevity.” Robert D. Putnam

Times Like These: Once, we had a life without Parkinson’s. Now, we are held captive, and we reside in the grip of Parkinson’s, which is always relentless. The feeling that Parkinson’s gives one varies from person to person, day to day, and even hour to hour. It is a fickle disorder that typically slowly progresses over the years. Ultimately, I wanted the blog during times like these to shine a light on various topics regarding Parkinson’s. Furthermore, I have always intended the posts to be not only educational/informative but also to focus on the positives that remain in our lives. And in times like these, in the presence of Parkinson’s, to have hope is to stay alive.

“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.” Paul Harvey

Times Like These Will Challenge Us Through and Through: For some of you, your young age at the onset of Parkinson’s (<50 years of age) implies you will live with the disorder for decades. The typical person with Parkinson’s is potentially close to retirement age (~65 years old), and they, too, face an uphill battle against Parkinson’s of undetermined time. Likely, both may live to see significant advances in treatment strategies as the complex molecular, pathophysiology, and cellular biology constituents of Parkinson’s are unraveled and identified. No doubt, in times like these, the PwP will still have obstacles to hurdle due to their Parkinson’s. Hopefully, more successes than failures will result in better patient support and emerging treatment modalities. Only time will tell about times like these.

“Worry is wasteful and useless in times like these.” Jewel

“Times Like These” by David Grohl and the Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters are among the most popular bands. Sadly, they were in the spotlight recently due to the sudden and unexpected death of their beloved drummer, Taylor Hawkins.

“Times Like These” was written when the band members struggled for their future, and Grohl half-wrote the lyrics on a napkin.

Grohl explained the song as “hope and love and compassion.” Furthermore, during the interview, he reflected that being away from his friends made him re-express these emotions to a higher degree.

The critical lyrics are given below:
I, I’m a one way motorway
I’m the one that drives away
Then follows you back home

I, I’m a street light shining
I’m a wild light blinding bright
Burning off and on

I, I’m a new day rising
I’m a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight

Chorus:
It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again.

“No one is you, and that is your power.” Dave Grohl

Times Like These (the song) and Parkinson’s: The chorus feels like a victory mantra. By that, I mean you have a Parkinson’s diagnosis; the first step is to learn to live again. You cannot stop giving, so you give and give again. And while Parkinson’s casts an ominous shadow, you still can learn to love again. And finally, this is a rest-of-life disorder; it will be needed, so bring it time and time again. What drives you is different from what drives me, but we share elements of the same cruel disorder; thus, we must continue to learn, give, and love again and again.

There is a significant point in the song, should Grohl stay with the band or leave? The lyrics include, “I am a little divided | Do I stay or run away | And leave it all behind?” Ultimately, he stays with the band and returns to the chorus. Likewise, I am placed in a dilemma where I must weigh continuing the burden of maintaining the blog or calling it quits and moving on. How do I better balance my life of writing with my retirement? Can I stay abreast of what’s happening in the labs/clinics dealing with advances for Parkinson’s? Ultimately, my answer is yes; I will keep it going. “It’s times like these you learn to live again.”

And I owe much to the readers of the blog posts. Your constant and continued enthusiasm for these posts keeps me going to research, read, and write, at all hours, days and nights. Thank YOU!

“Always have the highest bar for yourself. Wake up everyday and no matter how crappy you feel, want to change something for the better. Do something that makes someone happy. Create something that inspires someone. Be someone’s light when they are hopeless.” Dave Grohl

Several Versions of “Times Like This”:

Foo Fighters – Times Like These live in Herodion (A fantastic venue with the combination of an acoustic and rock version of the song):

Times Like These (Live at the Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles, CA – August 2006) [My current favorite version of the song, a large group of very talented musicians get together with Grohl and Hawkins to sing “their” version of the song.]

Foo Fighters – Times Like These (Official HD Video):

Lyrics “Times LIke These”
I, I’m a one way motorway
I’m the one that drives away
Then follows you back home

I, I’m a street light shining
I’m a wild light blinding bright
Burning off and on
Ah-ah-ahh

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again

I, I’m a new day rising
I’m a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight

I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?
Ah-ah-ahh

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again
It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again
It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again
It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Dave Grohl / Taylor Hawkins / Nate Mendel / Chris Shiflett

“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind… let it be something good.” Mac Anderson

Cover Photo Image by Jason from Pixabay