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Pain and suffering are not the same. An internet search for “difference between pain and suffering” yields dozens of sites for writers and practitioners, like Ashley Pennewill and Ann Marie Gaudon, who extol the benefits to be gained from this conceptualization. The repeated message is that pain is…

Today I spent another day with my 4-year-old grandson. His words of wisdom have come and gone yet again. Finn’s day began early. Before climbing into the car with his mom to skedaddle to Grammy’s for the day, Finn stopped abruptly.  He took a deep breath and exclaimed in…

Today I was sitting in a line of cars. I can think of better things to do on a hot day: eat an ice cream cone, swim in a pool, read a book in the shade of a tree. But it is still early summer and people pulling their trailers…

I hate exercise! Both my pain and fatigue increase when I exercise. These are disabling Parkinson’s disease symptoms, and both trigger the fight-or-flight response that often manifests as “the grouch.” I have not found an easy way of exercising with Parkinson’s pain and fatigue, but I have…

As a person with Parkinson’s, do you think hiking is a viable exercise option? If your answer is a resounding “No!” you are not alone. If someone had told me in the past that I would take up hiking, I would have had a similar response. However, keep an open…

I’ve always been a bookworm. From a young age, I’d collect stacks of dusty literature at the library and vanish in between the pages. Stories helped me learn about the complexities in life. I was often attracted to odysseys, in which an unassuming character went on a quest to learn…

I have often seen the legend “Parkinson’s Hero” on shirts and sweatshirts. Come to think of it, I even have a shirt with that written on it. But I have often felt confused by the expression. A Parkinson’s hero? What is a Parkinson’s hero? I recently was reading a…

While my grandkids were here last week, we read books every night before bed. And, of course, each night at least one book had to be by Dr. Seuss. The night before they left, we read “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?“…

A man walks into a store and asks for a map. The storekeeper responds, “We have lots of maps. Where are you going?” The man snaps, “Anywhere but here.” The shopkeeper says, “Sorry. We don’t have a map to ‘anywhere but here.’” When I was first hit with a sudden…

My 2-year-old grandson runs back toward the fence that shields him from entering a dark, muddy pond. I am sure there are water monsters that live deep in that 3-foot shallow, but ever-so murky, pond. They lie in wait beneath the scum and the sludge and the slime and all…