Jamie Askari is from Cleveland, Ohio, and serves as the managing director of Premier Health Advocates, LLC, a small medical advocacy organization. Her husband, Arman, was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease in 2009, at age 38. Jamie and Arman have three grown children. She has named her column “The Bright Side” (actually, her husband named it!) because of their positive attitude regarding Parkinson’s and all aspects of their lives.
When my three kids were small, I was a bit overprotective. My in-laws used to laugh about how my husband, Arman, and I kept a legal pad in our firstborn’s nursery to track her…
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One of my most vivid parenting memories involves my oldest daughter, Alexa, who’s now 27. We lived in Boston then, and I had enrolled her in a preschool program for 3-year-olds. She would…
There’s a small white church near the entrance to my old neighborhood. I used to drive by it daily. Outside the church was a large sign where meaningful quotes were posted. Over the 20…
Until recently, my husband, Arman, and I have been very private about his Parkinson’s diagnosis and our life dealing with the disease. He was diagnosed in 2009 with early-onset Parkinson’s at age…
Have you ever pondered the question “Who am I?” Personally, I never have. This won’t surprise anyone who knows me, as I’m not the type of person who self-reflects. But I recently started…
I truly love writing my column, “The Bright Side.” It has been a great way to chronicle my experiences as a mother, as well as a wife and caregiver to my husband,…
If I had a time machine, I would travel back to 2009. Like Michael J. Fox in “Back To The Future,” I would jump into that silver DeLorean and go!…
I’ve never been much of a morning person. I’m usually pretty moody and cranky when I wake up early. Once our kids were old enough to sleep in on the weekends, I’d often enjoy…
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…
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…
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…
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.
“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…
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