The Rosalita Cocktail and Conversation

Last night I had a delicious dinner at Black Sheep, a trendy hipster spot in Rhodes Ranch. I was joined by one of my good friends Susan. Susan did not meet me there. I picked her up in my cluttered car, which was not an issue because for the first time in 4 years, I didn’t need to jam her walker or motorized scooter into the backseat. Her collapsible cane fit perfectly on the passenger side floor. We spent the dinner talking about all of the hoops and hurdles she had jumped through to get to this day, to be able to walk into a busy restaurant standing on her own, no longer wheelchair bound.

Susan comes wih a basket full of experiences. Her newest one being she cannot eat anything spicy since she recently had her esophagus and stomach operated on. I took ordering the food into my own hands. Who would’ve thought carrots and noodles would’ve been so fiery. Luckily Susan had her Rosalita cocktail with refreshing mint leaves to wash it down. 

What does this story have to do with Parkinson’s???  4 years ago I met Susan at a Parkinson’s medical symposium. It was only a few weeks after Parkinson’s found me as a career opportunity to help the community through what I love…Boxing. I had a booth and was anticipating what my potential future clients would look like. The first person that I encountered was Susan as she came flying by on her scooter. She grabbed a business card and drove away into the crowd.  Looking back, I would’ve never thought that on a brisk cool November evening in 2018, that Susan would not only be walking after extensive ankle surgery to fix her dystonia but that we would be having a sleepover… Susan is laughing at me right now over leftover spicy breakfast carrots. Friendships are built in the most unexpected way.  

-Darbe Schlosser