Whether you can relate to a man in black, a Vicar of Christ or a Grammy winning rocker whose career spanned three decades, if you have Parkinson’s, you are in good company. Each of these men and women lived with this incurable disease, yet they lived their lives with passion and a purpose. You probably can identify each of these individuals without me giving out their names. The artist that sang Folsom Prison Blues and Ring of Fire suffered from PD, but that isn’t how we remember him, is it? We remember him as a talented, and at times, tormented artist with deep rich tones in his voice. How would you want to be remembered?

Would you like to be remembered for what you accomplished, what held you back or the obstacles that you overcame to live out your purpose with passion? The names on the list of sufferers of PD range from the most notable and respected evangelist of the modern era to some of the most nefarious dictators on the world’s stage. The disease is indiscriminate, it inflicts devastation without regard to economic standing, political status or family lineage. But it can be, and is, overcome by so many as evidenced by what they have accomplished with their lives. What would you want your epitaph to read? “I succumbed to…” or “I thrived in spite of…”. The prospect of the former is demoralizing while the thought of the later is uplifting.

At times the monkey on our backs isn’t what holds us back, it’s the elephant in the room. It took me a long, long time before I could admit that I had Parkinson’s even after I was diagnosed. To some extent, I was in denial. No, not the river in Egypt. I thought that if I didn’t speak it, it wasn’t real. But reality did finally set in, and I had to come to grips with what it looked like to live with it, and I still do. Do we live for today while the physical limitations are few? Do we simplify our lives now while its easier, but make changes that may never be necessary? To complicate matters, I have a soon-to-be 14-year old son. I want his life to be “normal”; whatever that means.

I want my son to be able to see this disease the same way that I do; as a challenge and not an impediment. He, too, will face challenges in his life, hopefully not the same as mine, but challenges are unavoidable. While his only point of reference is my ability, or lack thereof, to live a life of purpose, I have found so many more. There are giants that live with the same disease that I have, and ever more that have passed. I suspect that most, maybe even all of them had to wrestle with many of the same questions that I have. In a never-ending quest for relevance, how does PD fit in?

The Giants have spoken, each to their own audience; this disease does not need to be the defining event of your life or mine; it is nothing more than an asterisk, or a footnote. It is not how we will be remembered; it will simply provide commentary, an anecdote, to the obstacles we faced and to what we were able to accomplish.

Thanks for reading, liking and sharing.

Al Van Dyk and his faithful sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.