The Love in Pain – Part II
I had previously wrote about the pain associated with love on my sister site, Shadwell’s Jacket. That post dealt with loss associated with love, like losing a parent or a best friend. This post explores the love that is present when a loved one is going through difficult times.
I have extolled how blessed of a life I have lived and I truly believe that. Even after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a disease with no known cure as of today, I’m not in constant pain. I do have my days where my poor posture gives me a backache or a fall, from my instability has given me cuts and bruises (knock on wood, no broken bones yet), but all in all not a lot of physical pain. Now I am not diminishing how serious Parkinson’s is or where this journey is going to take me, but so far, the physical pain has been pretty manageable.
Another blessing is the love I have been shown, and this all starts at home with my loving partner, Irena. She noticed the changes in me first, even when I didn’t want to notice them. She has been by side through every step and literally holding me up when I stumble. Keep in mind the broad shoulders and capacity for love my High Priestess has as when I was diagnosed, Irena was still providing loving in home hospice care for her mom, Marie. She is my rock, but she isn’t alone.
When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s I was referred to a local neurologist. We had a neighbor, who lived across the lake from us, Ken Krohn, who had done a lot of work with UW Medicine (for all of my Bay Area friends, think the Stanford Medical of the Pacific Northwest) got wind of my diagnosis and on his own, got me in to see one of the top neurologists on the west coast. Thanks Ken, I think of you daily.
My family and friends have shown up in spades as well, but before I talk about them, I want to touch on timing. I am so glad my diagnosis came after my parent had passed. I have often shared the idea of how long I want to live as having changed when I started having children. Before kids I wanted to live forever, that soon changed to I don’t want to outlive my children and I am so happy my parents didn’t have to deal with this. They of course would have showered me with love, but I am glad they were spared the pain.
We will start with my sister, Lori, she has shown me great support trying to research and will the cure into existence. A better, more loving and supportive sibling does not exist. There are my children, who have made it their mission to provide regular support to me, whether that takes the form of research from my daughter Chara, a charge nurse or Cherie visiting and providing care for me, so Irena can take a break or constantly checking up on me with text messages and phone calls from Billly, Bobby, Cherie and Chara. And now I am in regular communication two grandkids, Preston and Brody! I have also been visited all the way from Paris by my cousin Marc and his partner Alain. I truly have felt the family love.
And the love doesn’t stop with the family as my friends have shown up as well. I’ll start with my F5 friends, who wouldn’t let up on me with ‘What is wrong Bill?’ when they witnessed my gait and posture when we returned to the office after Covid restrictions were eased. “No Filter’ Fulin was probably the most in my face about it and in retrospective, was probably the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, to get me to see a Dr.
Once diagnosed Troy and Garth have been incredible in in their support. They’ve both come up for visits and Troy and Ramona are joining Irena and I on our Paris trip this June to help Irena care for me! And both of my best friends have called me regularly, just to check in.
So, is there pain with my Walk in the Park? Sure, but the love far outweighs it!!
A Walk in the Park 