Cruel words

We were at the football game the other night (9ers won over the Cardinals -- yay!!) and I went down to the concession area to get some hot chocolate. It was around 7:30 at night and I take my last pill at 6:00, so I was starting to move a little slower, and walk a little "funnier". These 2 very young men brushed past me; I could tell they were a little frustrated at my pace. As they walked on, I heard one say to the other, "well, she IS retarded, you know".

"Retarded"? First off, that's not a word one should attach to another person under any circumstance, in my opinion. Second off, why would someone assume that another person is mentally challenged just because they are physically challenged? Or vice versa for that matter.

Well, as I said they were very young (late teens, early 20's), and I don't think he meant it in a bad way. His tone of voice was more like he was telling his friend to cut me some slack. But as I sit here waiting for my meds to kick in and trying to ignore the twisting pain in my foot and ankle from the dystonia, I feel a little discouraged about the state of Parkinson's awareness.

Oh well, we just need to keep on working on it!

Volunteer Therapy

Bob's feeling well again, thank God, so yesterday we spent a few hours volunteering at a USO care package stuffing party. We joined a group of our co-workers in a huge assembly line, putting together care packages for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We worked, we danced, we laughed and at the end of the morning we had put together and boxed up over 10,000 care packages. It was great!

There's something empowering about helping others, even in a small way. It makes me realize that I still have plenty to offer, and that Parkinson's can't really get me down.

Today, I'm going to try selling some of my jewelry at the local Christmas bazaar as a benefit for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Even if I just sell one thing, I'll feel like I accomplished something, so wish me luck!