As the new year is upon us, it is always a time to reflect, set goals, be disappointed on the goals you didn’t accomplish last year, and it can sometimes can be depressing. 

As my youngest child just turned 20 years old, and my daughter is now 25, I feel really old.  I know it is all relative, but how did I get here so quickly?  Where did the time go? Did I do all I wanted to do in life at 52?.  Was I the mom and wife that I hoped to be? So many chapters of my life are in the past.  I remember “old” people saying to me, “Embrace it now because before you know it, the kids will be all grown up.”  Now I am that old person.

We all encounter this time in our life and it is challenging.  I am still figuring it out and do not have all the answers.  I did not think that I would be doing what I’m doing with the Parkinson’s community, but I am figuring it out.  I try to stay positive, have hope and stay active mentally and physically.  I surround myself with positive thoughts, uplifting activities, and inspiring people.  This is the best I can do for now.  It is what it is, I must deal with it, right?

I want to share with you a Ted Talk of a woman with PD shares her poetry about living with the disease and growing older.  She has a beautiful way of describing both and seems so at peace with it all.  I hope you enjoy it.

Please click here to go to “4 Powerful Poems about Parkinson’s and Growing Older”.  The author is Robin Morgan, a TedWomen 2015.