Re: Parkinson's

On 9/5/2024 6:33 PM, Catrike Ryder wrote:

 Yesterday I, thinking about my upcoming trip to Wisconsin, I found and
contacted an old high school friend and discovered that he's afflicted
with Parkinson's. We talked a while, and he was struggling. It was
hard for me to understand him on the phone. Made me sad.
 Afterwards, I looked up another more recent friend, afflicted with
Parkinson's. It was back when I was going with my then future wife to
volunteer at an assisted home where she was activities director.
 My good friend Jimmy, on my Catrike
https://flic.kr/p/2qegeF7
 I don't know if the blurb on that picture is attached, so here it is.
 We eventually bought him his own Catrike. I'd sneak him out of the
home and we'd go riding in the park against the wishes of his Power of
Attorney, who eventually moved him away and gave the Catrike to the
home. He died soon after that, probably somewhere in his early 40s,
after being confined to another home where almost all of the other
residents were little old ladies who played bingo and did crossword
puzzles.  I was, of course, banned from that establishment.
 **************************************
 He'd had a successfully lawn maintenance business, and was buying a
home. I drove him to his old home and the new owners invited us in to
look around. I took him one day to the Veterans Cemetery so he could
visit his father's grave.  Super great guy, a music aficionado who
regularly presented me with a new song to learn before the following
week. I did my best with them and the other residents, most of them
much older, put up his rock and roll because he was such a great guy.
 Ok..  time for a Brandy...

Yes, those are hard stories.
But beyond our will or power. Zen is acceptance.
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971