Birds and Bird Feeders: Journey with Parkinson’s

"Let the bird sing without deciphering the song." Ralph Waldo Emerson "Wild sings the bird of the heart in the forests of our lives." Mary Oliver Introduction: Our move to South Carolina has us living in a 55+ (years of age) gated community with golf courses, tennis and pickleball courts, swimming pools, gyms, many other crafts/activities, …

The Positive Impact of Friends: Journey with Parkinson’s

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." Lois Wyse "Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart" Eleanor Roosevelt Introduction: I have …

Word for Wednesday: Gratitude

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie "Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other." Randy Pausch Gratitude: Since beginning this blog in 2015, I have mentioned gratitude numerous times and written about gratitude several …

The Significance of a Birthday: Journey with Parkinson’s

"Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed." Arthur Schopenhauer "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Mark Twain Introduction: For 26 years, I taught undergraduate Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill entitled "Biology of Blood Diseases." We …

The Politics of Parkinson’s

"Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong." Richard Armour "No one party can fool all of the people all of the time; that's why we have two parties" Bob Hope The National Plan to End Parkinson's Act (H.R.8585) in the …

Word for Wednesday: Resilience

"Resilience is not what happens to you. It’s how you react to, respond to, and recover from what happens to you." Jeffrey Gitomer “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Friedrich Nietzsche "The greater the force of your compassion, the greater your resilience in confronting hardships." Dalai Lama Defining …

Life in the Presence of Parkinson’s: A Daily Mantra

"Gratitude is the greatest prayer. Thank you is the greatest mantra." Swami Nithyananda "My mantra: Brainless exercise is a lost opportunity for improvement." Michael Merzenich Definition: Mantra, man·tra (/ˈmantrə/) noun: mantra; plural noun: mantras.1. (originally in Hinduism and Buddhism) A word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation. "A mantra is given to a …

Journey with Parkinson’s: Adding a New Journey

"Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me." Carol Burnett "It needs to be said and heard: it's OK to be who you are." Hailee Steinfeld  Adding a New Journey: In the preceding blog post, I spent a considerable amount of time writing about the quality of life, self-management of our …

Journey with Parkinson’s: Happy New Year

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’…” Alfred Lord Tennyson "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around." Willie Nelson We lived through 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We start 2022 in the grips of the same pandemic, just a different variant. Life goes …

Parkinson’s: Please Come Home for Christmas

“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.” Mary Anne Radmacher “Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.” Kahlil Gibran Introduction: By the end of December, another year is ending, it's winter, and I'm tired and worn out. It always happens to/for me. I …