The Long & The Short Of It

I had a visitor last week, and spent a most enjoyable few hours in the company of a fellow Parkinson's sufferer and her parents who are young at heart and a delight to be around. Sharing much in common, both of us young-on-set British born ladies, I only had to look into her face, to see she mirrors my thoughts, hopes and fears. Her eyes still twinkle for underneath the Parkinson veil, I see a tall athletic beautiful woman. There was so much to talk about, and yet our voices no longer strong, and the extreme fatigue dulled our otherwise enthusiastic conversation. But a deep feeling of communication and fellowship was very tangible, which almost eliminated the necessity for words. Simply being in each other's company was without doubt a dose of medicine and a feeling of support like no other. I presume she pretty much felt the same way. When living with any debilitating on-going disease, support from fellow sufferers is extremely important.

I keep myself occupied with writing, although this has considerably slowed down since my hand writing is very poor now, and typing extremely difficult, therefore cooking and baking, my passion in life, has become a large part of my day. My special visitor however, spends several hours each morning in a wood workshop creating beautiful tactile toys for children, and other useful items, some are simply for fun out of re-claimed wood, ingeniously utilising recycled interesting objects that might otherwise have been discarded but now given a second life. My friend makes gorgeous oversized dragon flies that adorn the walls of her house and the fences of a nearby local pre-school. She thoughtfully made one for me and it now hangs on our garden wall amongst the pretty pink roses in a place of pride and joy, so whenever I look out at my "enchanted garden" (as I've come to call it) I see a huge wooden dragon fly and I know I'm not alone. 

The visit was over all too quickly, but both of us were by then exhausted. We almost had a race shuffling to the garden gate arm in arm, but I declared a mismatch since she had an unfair gain over me for being rather tall (I'm a little short). With those lovely long legs of hers, she had a distinct advantage!

So the long and the short of it is; one thing I've learnt (well I've actually learnt many things) but one particular thing is that you never know what tomorrow will bring or what's around the corner. Live each day to the full and don't waste your time and energy on things that aren't important or cause you stress. Life's too short - so take a step back and take time to smell the roses and enjoy what life holds in store.

My HuffingtonPost article this week reveals some exciting news about a webcast (that is more like a CNN television programme) and is a breakthrough in empowering patients which I have taken part in. Please take a look at the article and help me spread the word by simply passing it forward to others in the hope of reaching a wide audience, or merely click "like" and I'll know we've been heard. Everyone needs support when ill health strikes - but there are many around the world who have none, and this needs rectifying.