I'm a shaker!

It's funny some of the things people will come up and say to me. "You're a shaker" a woman abruptly told me, with a serious look on her face. I've heard fellow sufferers refer to themselves as being a "Parkie", but "a shaker" was a new one to me. Never having met this woman before, a little disconcerted at her comment, I replied "I do have Parkinson's, but the medications pretty much control the shaking." The woman shook her head in frustration and explained that she was referring to how I am passionate in speaking out, being unashamedly honest, and writing about every aspect of chronic disease. She congratulated me on my writing and told me I wasn't sitting still, quietly doing nothing, and to quote her - I was "shaking things up." I hadn't thought of it that way before - so I guess I am a shaker. Maybe that's why I gave my book the title of "Parkinson's, shaken, not stirred". Many have told me it reminds them of a well known line from the James Bond movies, as our handsome hero orders a martini, shaken not stirred. It's a little early in the day for a cocktail, but maybe later, as the sun goes down, my husband and I will sit on the patio together and have a drink.