One In A Million
Finding Comfort In Others
Welcome to my new/old blog, same lame humor and blurry insight with one exception. I have been kicking around the idea of putting a website together to chronicle my life living with PD. As you all well know, your new baby needs a name before you bring, he, she, them, they, it, into this world. It just so happens that in the internet world there can only be one “John Smith”, and if you want that name for your baby, you better have deep pockets. I have more creativity than money, so I went with “makeup my own domain name for $30.00, Alex replacement”. And that is how we got to where we are today, I have no website yet (procrastination), but daddy’s baby has a new name, all future blogs will be known by (drumroll please), “MY CRAZY PARKINSONS LIFE”. I don’t know when I will get my website up and running or if I ever will, but use my domain name and see what happens. I actually own a piece of the internet and it’s kind of cool, while I am thinking about it, I think I will have a star named after me when I get done.
Now for the meat and potatoes. For many of us, PD is a very public disease, there is no hiding the tremors or dyskinesia, or the struggle of getting your wallet or car keys out of your pants. And with that attention comes sympathy from those who only know PD from afar. But for those who have witnessed PD in their personal life, their reaction is completely different, sympathy is replaced by admiration and a love for a complete stranger only someone within the PD family would understand.
I will give you an example, earlier this summer I went motocross riding in California. There was a guy parked next to us who was watching me get into my riding gear, he was watching very intently until he noticed I was watching him, he was busted. I said hello, he said,” if you don’t mind me asking, do you have Parkinson’s,” I said,” no, I just need a drink”. We laughed and he came over and he told me the story of his father’s fight against PD, he was emotional as he spoke, it was plain to see, that experience had taken a toll on him.
As the conversation went on, he started to focus on my drive to do the things I love, like motocross. He quickly became my biggest fan (sorry Josette), every time I went on track, there he was watching me ride with a smile on his face. As I would exit the track he would come over to our pits and fist bump me and say “God bless you”. I liked being stalked, but like all good things, it came to an end. After a final “God bless you”, he went his way and I went mine. But I thought a lot about him on the drive home and why he was so enamored with me. It took a while, but I realized he found comfort in seeing me live my life in spite of the obstacles that I have to overcome, obstacles he was all too familiar with.
This is not the first time that this has happened. When we went on a cruise, we met a couple on the little boat taking us from the ship to Monterey. The woman was watching me and ease dropping on the conversation Rosalie and I were having, when she asked “the question”. After confirming her suspicions, she went on to tell me about her experience taking care of her mother who had lived with PD. She began to ask me questions about my life with PD, and as I answered them her facial expressions changed from pain to admiration. When we got to shore, they went their way, and we went ours. We never saw them again until we were getting off the ship for last time in Long Beach. Through the madness of thousands of people trying to disembark, she spotted Rosalie and myself waiting for our number to be called. She walked up and said “I will never forget you”, and off she went. She saw what she needed to see, see found comfort in seeing someone living happily with PD.
I have told many people my attitude towards PD is simple, Parkinson’s is going to take whatever it’s going to take, when it wants to take it, but I ain’t giving it $H!T, and that my friends seems to be a crowd pleaser.
Keep on fighting
Mark@mycrazyparkinsonslife.com DON’T EMAIL THAT YET, DADDY’S JUST LOOKIN AT HIS NEW BABY!