Photo of Marge Doyle (Mom)
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present.” ~Babatunde Olatunji
On Mother’s Day today, I find myself reminiscing about Mom.
On May 8, 1996, 15 years ago today, Mom was in Rome, Italy on a well-deserved vacation with her two sisters. She had taken care of her ill husband, my Dad, for nearly 10 years. He had died about six months earlier in November of 1995. Mom was looking forward to this vacation starting with a tour of the Vatican. While climbing with her little legs out of the tall old-fashioned bathtub in the hotel in Rome the night before her tour, she fell hard on the tile floor and broke her back. She was in the Rome American Hospital in Italy for a week and flew home to Kansas City with an escort. Mom was robbed of that much needed vacation. Her back still hurt when she died in October of 2008. Three years before she died, she was also diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.
On that same day 15 years ago in Colorado, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I remember that day like it was today with the same nearly record-breaking temperatures of 85 degrees, then and now. My husband, Tom picked me up from work, and we drove to the neurology appointment. I was anxious, secretly fearing the verdict of Parkinson’s. Tom returned to work after the appointment, and I decided to walk the two miles home alone with my thoughts and worries. The ground squirrels chirped as I walked past the undeveloped land. I arrived home with a trial of the Sinemet, the “gold standard” in hand. As instructed by the neurologist, I took this pill and was told to observe any changes in my Parkinson’s symptoms. Within a half-hour, the tremor in my left hand had stopped. I picked up my accordion and miraculously played a tune as both hands worked perfectly, just like my pre-Parkinson’s days.
Our lives were forever changed on May 8, 1996. It forced us to celebrate the present and cherish our victories. It taught us about the fragility of life. We learned to stop taking each other and our health for granted.
The challenge is to carry these lessons learned throughout the year, not just on Mother’s Day by remembering and behaving as though today is a gift.
To read about the neurology appointment when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, check outThe Answer at http://katekelsall.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/11/ten_years_ago.html
To read about Mom and Lewy Body Dementia, check out http://katekelsall.typepad.com/my_weblog/lewy_body_dementia/
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