Columns

I miss my support groups, the warm handshakes, and the genuine greeting, “How have you been?” Most of all, I miss hugs from my granddaughters. There is no technology that can replace their healing hugs. We are social beings, and to thrive rather than just survive, we need healing contact…

How will we describe the “Virus of 2020” to future generations? Should we refer to it as the virus that boosted online platforms? An online platform allows people to use the internet and other networked sites like social media to exchange information. Yes, the internet and social media platforms can…

Steam from my hot chocolate fogs my glasses. I almost miss Neo’s opening comment: “How goes the move to St. Louis?” I wipe my glasses. “We had to speed up the whole thing because of the pandemic. Trying to prepare for every possible concern during these unstable times has turned…

It’s April, and we’re halfway through Parkinson’s Awareness Month, an effort designed to focus on education about the disease. There are still regions of the world where Parkinson’s isn’t yet understood. And there aren’t words to describe the disease in some distant corners of the Earth, which makes facing…

Resiliency. It’s not a word you hear too often in relation to Parkinson’s disease. You hear words like courage and strength. But resiliency? Not often. What is resiliency? You might say it is having the ability to bounce back quickly from difficulties. Or having a toughness of character, a…

She was nine years younger than his 37 years of age. Two months into their relationship, a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis was inevitable. She had a decision to make. A choice that would affect the rest of her life. Should she continue seeing him? Invest her life in something that…

If I was a hoarder, I would choose chocolate chip cookies over toilet paper. In a head-to-head match, chocolate chip cookies have many more benefits for coping with the COVID-19 crisis. That soothing smell of a freshly baked cookie can’t be matched by toilet paper, even the scented kind. A…

When you’re young, you think you have it all figured out. The future is limitless. I was no exception. My life was moving right along when, all of a sudden, it wasn’t. I was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s, and my husband and I found ourselves on a different journey,…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” —Charles Dickens The worst of times Currently, my retirement community is on lockdown and was one of the first places in my county in Long Island, New York, where COVID-19 cases were reported. Eight residents have since…

When news of the coronavirus was first surfacing, many of us wanted to stick our head in a bucket and ignore the possibilities ahead. Soon after the worrisome news that things were not going to get better any time soon, we pulled our heads out of the bucket…