December 19, 2020
Dear PD Wise Friends,
What a year 2020 has been. A devastating global epidemic has jarred millions of lives and shattered many of them, and though newly approved vaccines promise relief, the pandemic’s brutal effects will continue for the foreseeable future.
For those of us living with Parkinson’s, every year is jarring and, for some, devastating; and each new year comes with disease progression, with reminders that additional challenges lie ahead, and with anxiety about the future.
But each new year may also be a time for renewing our hope that better days will come as new treatments are brought online—as we live in expectation of scientists discovering our own kind of vaccine if you will.
For me, living with both the challenges and expectations is easier and more empowering when it happens in a community of others who have Parkinson’s, or who live with similar illnesses.
Created to foster this kind of community, PD Wise is a space for sharing perspectives related to a life with Parkinson’s, in the hope that we all may find something that helps sustain us in our journey with this illness. If you get nothing else from reading PD Wise, I want you to feel recognized, supported, less alone, and more hopeful.
Looking ahead to a new year, I ask that you think about what kinds of stories you would like to read on PD Wise, meaning topics, experiences, information, or interviews that interest you, so that I can try to provide content that is attractive, thought-provoking, and helpful.
Please send me your ideas and impressions by email, at allan@pdwise.com. I always love hearing from you.
In this season of recognizing what is joyous and good, in the world and our own lives, please know that I give thanks for all of you who read PD Wise, for your caring about those living with Parkinson’s, and for the earnest commitment we share to live as well as possible with an insidious disease and to use it for good.
As noted in the PD Wise Guiding Principles:
- Being a part of a supportive and informed community helps us live well with Parkinson’s disease.
- Telling and hearing stories of Parkinson’s benefits those who have the disease; their families, care partners, and friends; and researchers, health care workers, and the larger public.
- People with Parkinson’s experience the disease in both similar and different ways, and thus have common and distinctive stories and needs.
- Personal stories of Parkinson’s disease enrich current efforts in research, education, and advocacy; and efforts to raise both awareness of the disease and funding for its treatment and cure.
- US is stronger and more hopeful than I.
I want to close with a poem I wrote a few weeks ago, inspired by a visit with my dear friend, Roozbeh, who works as a pediatric cardiologist, as a healer. The poem symbolizes for me the vital role that our physicians play in our lives, as instruments of healing and hope, and it’s a way of thanking them for their hard work and devotion.
My Physician Friend
My friend who cares for children’s hearts,
Logs long days and overnight stays,
In a place any parent fears
Should sleep ones held so closely, so dear.
A physician by vocation,
By disposition, a man of peace,
His gentle way boosts my spirit
As we meet, ponder, and speak.
His generous gifts of goodness and grace,
Offer calm,
Lift hope,
Expand my heart’s space.
Seeing in him that which is true,
Glimpsing in the world what is not, too,
Renews my efforts for goodness and grace,
Prompts my prayers for his children,
For all hearts that ache.
Wishing you and yours a joyous and peaceful holiday season, and a Happy New Year!
I’ll see you in 2021.
Appreciatively,
Allan
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Photo by Jonathan Meyer on Unsplash