The Unshakable Optimist - a Column by Mollie Lombardi

My birthday is this month, and I’m turning 49. I’m not doing anything particularly exciting to celebrate, just dinner with some friends and my husband. Low-key birthdays are fine by me, but it is a big deal to be entering the last year of my 40s. I started this decade…

A vanity isn’t just for the vain. If any of you are like me and watch a lot of home improvement shows, you probably have some bathroom envy. My house was built in the 1970s, and our primary bathroom is definitely a “before,” not an “after,” when it comes to…

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you may have noticed I haven’t published anything new in a few weeks. You see, I was sick. I had the flu — the same terrible one that seems to be affecting people all over the country. I always say that having…

This year, I’m celebrating Parkinson’s Awareness Month by saying, “F— Parkinson’s!” If you watch the Apple TV show “Shrinking,” you’ll get exactly what I mean. The show features a group of multigenerational friends, three of whom work together at a psychiatrist’s office. (Get it? “Shrinking?”) Harrison Ford plays…

I recently started seeing a new neurologist after the doctor I’ve had since my Parkinson’s diagnosis moved out of state. This has been a big deal for me; I even devoted a column to how much I’ll miss her. I loved my doc. She saw me through 12-plus…

Having a chronic illness is exhausting in so many ways. I’ve described Parkinson’s disease as being exhausted physically on a cellular level. It’s not like being tired after running a foot race or sleeping poorly the night before. On a molecular level, it’s like my cells and neurons are…

In the 12-plus years since I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, I’ve become increasingly aware of how difficult the world is to navigate physically. When I started having gait and balance issues, I realized how many uneven flooring surfaces there were, all of which had become newly noticed…

When you are diagnosed with a chronic and complex disease like Parkinson’s, it can be like learning a new language. Words like “gait” (the body’s posture while walking), “dyskinesia” (uncontrolled, involuntary movements affecting the arms, legs, head, or whole body), “micrographia” (tiny handwriting), and other strange-sounding…

Songs can be a powerful trigger for memories. I can’t hear Kermit the Frog singing “Rainbow Connection” without thinking of my family and my childhood spent playing Muppets records. I hear “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel, and instantly, the image of John Cusack holding a…

Developing a chronic, degenerative condition like Parkinson’s disease is a raw deal. It’s also horrible when it comes at the age of 36, as it did for me. You’re entering the prime of life and career, and BLAM! Hello, early-onset Parkinson’s disease. It’s totally unfair to young spouses…