I wanted to tell the man sitting nearby at a restaurant in Denver that he had an identical twin in Sacramento.
I heard his familiar voice. I asked my husband Tom to close his eyes and to identify the person behind the voice. He confirmed that it was the voice of Joel Davis, an author and friend with Parkinson’s Disease, who we recently visited while vacationing in California.
We scrutinized this man when he ambled to the buffet. He could have been Joel’s identical twin: both being in the mid-40's, same face, both around 6’4” with a large build. We eavesdropped on his conversation and assumed he was a lawyer or a law professor chatting about depositions and hearings.
However, this mystery man was hunched over when he walked. While I observed a stooped posture in Joel a couple of years ago, on this visit Joel was standing tall. After Joel’s second deep brain stimulation surgery in April 2007, he experienced a remarkable recovery. Joel looked like a man who never had Parkinson’s: no tremor, no dyskinesia, no stiffness and in good spirits.
I knew that Joel had no brothers. It was just an eerie coincidence.
For stories written by Joel on his brain surgeries as well as information about his book (not on brain surgery), check out:
The Heart of the (Gray) Matter by Joel Davis
I Knew the Drill by Joel Davis
Book: Justice Waits by Joel Davis
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