The Bright Side - a Column by Jamie Askari

Every person and family is dealt a deck of cards in their lifetime. Some of them may be in perfect order and the cards in pristine condition without a crease or a bend. Other decks, however, may be worn and weathered, even missing a few cards. We may never know…

About a year or so after my husband, Arman, was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease, we were attending a party. I remember an acquaintance asking me that night, “Why don’t you ever let loose and have some fun?” At that point, Arman was early in the progression of…

Some days when I look at our bathroom closet, it resembles a miniature pharmacy. While my husband, Arman, takes significantly fewer oral medications since his deep brain stimulation surgery in 2017, he still averages about 30 pills a day. We have three large plastic bins containing medications, vitamins,…

Some of life’s greatest blessings are the ones we don’t even notice. For instance, I’m typically unaware of how natural it is for me to walk, talk, and get myself dressed and fed. Or how about the little conveniences, such as taking my cellphone out of my pocket? How…

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” — humorist and poet Sam Levenson, though often quoted by (and misattributed to) Audrey Hepburn, actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador I began volunteering in my children’s classrooms…

Having been born and raised in Cleveland, I’m accustomed to living in a city with top-notch healthcare. This didn’t mean much to me as a child and as a young adult, because I was extremely fortunate that none of my close family members or I had any major medical issues…

Early-onset Parkinson’s disease entered my life almost 15 years ago. My husband, Arman, who was in his late 30s at the time, had been showing some strange warning signs that his body was fighting something — we just didn’t know what it was. He began experiencing impaired…

Hello, November! With the Thanksgiving holiday nearly upon us, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m most thankful for. As the leaves change colors and the air gets cooler, it feels like the perfect time to reflect on the past year and all of the reasons I have to…

My husband, Arman, has been dealing with a number of symptoms in his head, neck, and back due to his battle with Parkinson’s disease. These have included a stooped posture, a bent spine (called camptocormia), a drooped head, and a bend in his trunk (called…

When my husband was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease at age 38, I worried about the effects it would have on him and my children, but I didn’t think about the ways it would alter my own life. As a mother and wife, my priorities were…