STORIES
Staring into the Fire
It’s just before 4:00 pm on a cold, wintry day in Austin...
On Memories and Realities
Some of the more meaningful and rewarding experiences in life come with risk...
A Letter to PD Wise Friends
For me, living with both the challenges and expectations is easier and more empowering when it happens in a community...
Spiritual Questions
He has asked me to talk about my spiritual path...
On Being Happy
Many people assume that those of us living with a chronic illness must not be happy.
An Awful Lot to Live For
When I meet someone with Parkinson’s, I immediately feel a kinship.
Making It
I have thought a lot about Cooper and his father in the weeks since that Saturday morning encounter.
On Elections and Humanity
It is Election Day, and I am anxious about what the day might bring. Mostly, however, I feel sad.
A Meditation on Parkinson’s
I look out the window and see the uneven row of fuchsia roses blowing in the breeze.
A Parkinson’s Anniversary Letter to My Daughters
It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since my Parkinson’s diagnosis...
Running and Parkinson’s
Running is cheap and easy. Just put your shoes on and go.
A Story of Juvenile Parkinson’s Disease and Hope
Though living in this way was difficult, I didn't let Parkinson’s stop me from pursuing my dreams.
Ungated
Loneliness means feeling like an outsider, as though one does not belong...
Five Questions for Aaron Charles de la Garza, J.D.
Aaron Charles de la Garza is an Austin, Texas-based attorney who has practiced employment law for over twenty years.
A Hopeful Future
Parkinson’s disease has prompted my re-examination of hope, not because I have lost a measure of it but because I want to make damn certain I understand it.
Justice Ginsburg’s Legacy: A Blessing for All of Us
Her life’s work involved a tireless effort to articulate why discrimination and inequity was unacceptable and to act for lasting change.
On Friendships, Old and New
These ties of friendship often begin in childhood, but they can form at any age.
Five Questions for Ray Dorsey, M.D.
I am surprised and upset by how many people with the disease have had exposure to pesticides or industrial chemicals tied to the disease.
Aesop, Moses, and Living with Parkinson’s
Living with illness can become a craft of sorts, meaning we can get better at it the more practice we have. We learn tricks of the trade that help improve us as craftspeople.
Five Questions for Michael S. Okun, M.D.
Persons with Parkinson’s disease have shown me that it is possible to have a meaningful life and a happy life despite a chronic disease.
One Thing
Holding up one finger, Curly says, “This. One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean sh#%.”
Five Questions for Soania Mathur, M.D.
I think that what has surprised me most about living with PD is the strength of the human spirit, the ability to continue to thrive despite the challenges this disease presents.
My Favorite Day
When do I get back to that life? When everything was so normal.