Earlier I was asked about my desire to fly and if it was deeply ingrained. Some of my friends know the answer to that. From my very first memories I have dreamed of flying. When.I was in kindergarten where we lived there was a lilac bush with an open area inside, I would go in there and.pretend I was piloting a rocket. That was in 1957 must have been from watching Jet Jackson, or Buck Rodgers or something. I would play with a tricycle putting it on the side and using the back wheel as a control wheel. Even then I knew pull back to go up, push forward to go down. At 13 in 1965 I stole an airplane, a cessna 150. I flew for about 15 minutes, landed in a corn field, across.the rows, broke off the nose wheel and flipped over. But at 13 never having touched the controls of an airplane I took off, flew and landed. If I can I will include a picture of the newspaper article. I later learned to fly legal from the owner of the airplane, got my ratings,including my flight instructor rating and went to work for the man whose airplane I stole. I then went on to fly for a airline for 27 years.
The reason I bring this up is people make so much of celebrities and how terrible it is that they can't act, or can't sing any more after Parkinson's. The thing is they are not the only ones who lost a dream. Many many people like me have also lost a dream. Many will no longer see or hear Linda Ronstat sing live, many will no longer have a safe ride on my airplane.
I think it is so important to remember that millions of people suffer from Parkinson's who also had a dream, also made a difference in the lives of people. There are so many families that have been hurt by this disease, that won't end up on a sitcom. That no one will ever have anyone but family and a few close friends morn the loss of their dreams. This isn't the MJF disease, or the poor Linda Ronstat disease. It is a terrible, debilitating disease that effects millions.
When I was first diagnosed and told people a common response was,"oh Michael J Fox has that, there are pills for it, it's not like cancer or anything". No it's not, for this there is no chance of a cure, no such thing as a remission. It is a steady physical, and possibly a mental decline. It robs.you of most of the.functions of the body most take.for granted. On one website someone talked of t-shirts for parkies thst said " I pooped today", a big deal for a parkie. I know TMI, unfortunately there is so much more. None of which you will ever see or hear about on a sitcom. I wonder how many will ever have a good laugh to a show where someone has breast cancer, or.have s good chuckle over grandma's Alzheimer's. There are not so many things I find funny with this that I could make anyone laugh about. Yes there are funny things that happen because of this, but for the most part they are the same things that happen between most couples that can not be shared because they are so personal you would not share them outside of your relationship.
This is my rant for awhile. I'm sure there will be more.
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