It was great seeing all of you who were able to attend December’s holiday lunch meeting, where we welcomed two new women to our group. One who was diagnosed just a few months ago commented, “All I’ve been hearing and reading about is exercise is good and everyone’s experience is different.”
That about sums it up.
Although we are all in different places on our individual Parkinson’s journeys, we all share the experience of being a woman with Parkinson disease. As someone else said yesterday (I do believe it was me!), “No one who doesn’t have this disease truly gets what it feels like.” Living with Parkinson’s is challenging, but manageable (as my neurologist reassures me). Some days it feels barely tolerable. But even the most difficult days feel a little more doable because of the strength I draw from each of you.
One of our members once referred to us as Women Warriors, a term I latched onto and continue to use because it captures and conveys the image of our unity and strength.
Which brings me to the bookmarks two of our members gifted us yesterday:
Fate whispers to the WARRIOR . .
“You can not withstand the STORM.”
The Warrior whispers back,
“I AM THE STORM.”
Author Unknown
How perfect is that!
For our new members and to update everyone, we alternate on a monthly basis meeting in-person and via Zoom to accommodate the needs and preferences of all of our members. Our upcoming meeting schedule is below and can also be found here. I send out monthly email meeting announcements and they are also posted to the website.
It’s also good to review periodically the basis of our group:
What We Are and What We Are Not
About This Group especially our commitment to privacy: “The most important commitment we make to each other is confidentiality. To preserve our meetings as a safe place to discuss topics that we can’t discuss anywhere else, we all agree, What is said in the room, stays in the room. And to respect each other’s privacy, Whoever is in the room, stays in the room as well.”
Our 2023/2024 Meeting Schedule; topics and guest speakers to follow.
January 3 – Zoom
February 7 – In-person
March 6 – Zoom
April 3 – In-person
May 1 – Zoom
June 5 – In-person
Wishing you all a most wondrous and joyful holiday season.
