We invite you to share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions at our next meeting, WEDNESDAY JUNE 3, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Last month we talked about silver linings, finding something positive hidden inside even the most challenging of situations. We agreed that one silver lining of having Parkinson’s – one of life’s more challenging situations – is meeting so many interesting women we wouldn’t have otherwise met. We talked about friendship and connection, as well as our shared appreciation that meetings are for women with Parkinson’s only. No caregivers, no spouses, no partners.
For this we can credit our founder for her vision of “providing a supportive, all-female environment where women feel free to talk about everything and anything” when she started the group in 2014. The support group has been meeting monthly – from September through June – ever since. I can’t recall when we started coordinating and facilitating the meetings at our founder’s request, but it was pre-Covid, so maybe the end of 2019.
We administrate but as we often remind everyone, it is your group. We are all here to share, support, and learn from one another. In that spirit, we will dedicate some time at our JUNE 3 meeting, as we’ve done in the past, for your input into next year’s meetings.
In the past we’ve discussed Zoom vs, in-person meetings; what we like best (and least) about our meetings; what we’d like to spend more (or less) time on during our meetings; topics of interest we wish to discuss; talking among ourselves vs. guest speakers.
Since we have some fairly new members, here’s a quick summary of our meeting evolution. These past few years we’ve gone from alternating Zoom and in-person meetings to a Zoom-only format, a progression which seems to have mirrored our Parkinson’s progression. Some of us now have driving issues, some of us energy and mobility issues, others time and geographic constraints. Zoom seems the easier, safer option.
When we met in person, we generally had monthly speakers. With the abundance of information by professionals (including video presentations) freely available online, we no longer seek out guest speakers. Having said that, we get emails all the time from service providers for people with Parkinson’s. We schedule those we find interesting and think you will too.
That should bring you up to speed. If you’re newer to the group or have been around since that first meeting – which predates me – or fall anywhere in between, please join us on June 3. We’d love to see and hear from you. After our planning discussion, let’s catch up on what’s happening with everyone.
ZOOM link will be emailed the day before the meeting. Plan to sign on from a quiet area of your home to preserve the group’s confidentiality. You may sign on 10-15 minutes early if you wish. Join us whenever you can, even if you are running late.
We ask that you keep your camera on during the meeting so we can see one other, like we would if we were in the same room together. If you experience any Zoom sign-on problems, let us know so we can troubleshoot with tech support (AKA tech-savvy husband). Be sure you have the latest version of ZOOM installed.
Meeting guidelines and information can be found here
We look forward to seeing you at our June meeting!