Here is one:
In his opening paragraph, Daniel Bergner (Dec. 2) describes Booth Gardner walking along the beach, his grandchildren exploring the water’s edge. Gardner says, “I can’t see where anybody benefits by my hanging around.”
I’m sorry he must struggle with Parkinson’s. However, rather than admitting defeat and withdrawing quietly from life, he could transform his disease into a means whereby his grandchildren can explore the depths of their own strength and love for one another.
My aunt lived for decades with the increasing limitations of Parkinson’s. During those years my uncle carried her from room to room, fed her, strained to understand her words. Her journey was difficult, but in the end her greatest gift to her family was a deeper appreciation for the human spirit.
Scott T. Hunsicker
When we look back on the last hours/days/weeks/months of a loved one, they are always treasured, no matter how difficult they were at the time. As a hospice nurse once said to me, [at a time when I was particularly ambivalent about the course of my mother’s cancer and the pitfalls of prognotication], “more time is never a bad thing.”
My friend has Parkinsons. She struggles, she cries, she shares. Her husband is to be commended for the care given. Don’t know how it will proceed, but am grateful I can be of some help. Her value? She is teaching us all……She is a shining child of God in her affliction….