Well I've written in some pretty strange places
before, and out of sheer necessity, used unusual things to write on when my
trusty writing pad is not at hand, such as paper serviettes in a restaurant.
I'm a writer at heart, always have a story to tell, and when inspiration hits
me, I am compelled to write straight away, or my words and thoughts of the
moment are lost. So here I am at 04:00 in the bathroom of a B&B we are
staying at overnight attending a family wedding. You are probably thinking I'm
writing on a roll of toilet paper - for what else could I find in a bathroom?
But you would be wrong. Toilet paper far too thin and fragile to write on, one
has to be resourceful. Under the two glasses by the washbasin, I found round
paper doilies and somehow managed to separate the thin layers ending up with
four circles of paper to write upon. Looking on the bright side, luckily one of
Parkinson's peculiar many symptoms: "micrographia", helped me in this
situation, to fit what I wanted to write on such small pieces of paper.
Staying in unfamiliar surroundings, I became acutely aware not to fall and remember where I'd put my things
should I need something in the middle of the night. Not wanting to wake my
sleeping husband who suffers enough disturbed nights thanks to me, I ensured my
pills were easily accessible with a glass of water next to them. Thinking I was
well prepared, I hadn't taken into account, when the lights were turned out,
the absolute darkness that enveloped the room. I couldn't even see my hand in
front of me it was so dark. It was at this point I came up with the bright idea (albeit it rather late, but shall bear it
in mind for next time) that a night light would have been most helpful instead
of cautiously feeling my way and trying to remember the layout of a an
unfamiliar room in complete darkness.
I couldn't see the time on my watch, and didn't
know how long I had before my first pill of the day, so maybe a travel clock
with illuminated numbers would have been
the ideal item to take with, some of which have a fairly bright light shedding enough
to allow me to see what I was doing.
I'd like to shed some light in sharing with you
the story of a remarkable young woman who has a website dedicated to Gaucher
disease. On 20th June she ran a night ultra-marathon, not only for herself and to
raise awareness of the rare disease we both suffer from, but she also ran in my
name. I was so touched and honoured, I have written about her courageous
run in this week's article of The Huffington Post. (Photograph courtesy of Bettina Janchen.)