-
Do you use humor to cope?
Lately, I’ve been tuning into my Dad’s superpower. He has the ability to make anything funny. When we experience a tragedy, he’s the person who makes everyone laugh at the funeral. And now that he’s battling Parkinson’s disease, he often turns the humor inwards, making jokes about becoming the best fisherman on the planet because he’s a phenomenal “jigger”. Do you use humor cope? Do you find that it’s helpful to yourself or others to make a lot of jokes?
-
5 Replies
-
OMG, yes! Without humor (and music) to get through *anything* in life, much less PD, I’d have a horrible time. One of the first things I did after I got my diagnosis was to seek that clip of Michael J. Fox on Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he “accidentally” shakes up a bottle of soda before handing it to Larry David, and Larry then is pretty sure Michael is just blaming it on the Parkinsons. I had to do that, for my mental well-being, because life doesn’t stop with a diagnosis. You adapt and keep moving. You have to, whether it’s PD or anything.
You know, the first time you mention PD to anyone, they give you THAT LOOK and seem ready to relate some story of knowing a relative or someone who has it. So to put someone at ease, I’ll use humor. That fishing joke is great! My go-to one is:
You know the best part of Parkinson’s? Instant jazz hands! [with some hand shakes]
Poor taste? Call it dark humor, but I can’t “WOE IS ME” my way through life. Chin up, smile, and find sunshine and purpose—and if you can’t orient yourself to do that today, seek to do so the next day.
-
I love to crack jokes about my PD — from not needing a mixer in the kitchen to not having to plug in my “electric toothbrush” in the bathroom. If we can’t laugh at ourselves (and get others to enjoy our self-deprecating humor), who will? Well, probably a lot of people … but at least we’ll beat them to it! 🙂
-
Thanks, Jo S.—those were good! I’m not sure of those without PD would appreciate these jokes, but they just show that while PD is serious business, there’s room for laughter to power us through.
-
Rich and Jo,
I always wonder if I’m out of line when I poke at my Dad with humor, too. But it seems to soften the blow. I’m glad that you’ve both found ways to keep your spirits high.
-
Robert; B:1950 Dx:2005
Mary Beth: I’ve been poking around the blog to see what various threads there are, and when I came to one by RicH, I saw his bit of wisdom: “Life doesn’t stop with a diagnosis.” I would like to suggest that you moderators read through the past posts in your threads and glean out whatever wisdom (and maybe humor) you find and save the results to a page, maybe the first page in each forum.
Log in to reply.