Having Parkinson's, or any disability, means being the "different" one in a crowd. It is something that often puts Russ at a disadvantage. His body now has a different set of 'rules' and he must respect those, doing life in new ways. Our role, as family, friends and 'the crowd', is to respect that and hopefully support and embrace and encourage those differences. He now accomplishes many tasks in a different manner, capitalizing on the strengths of his body and finding strategies to compensate for the parts no longer functioning.
As we each go through our day we probably don't give a thought to the flow of getting from here to there. Our mind and body synchronize with one another without thought. We can do a 180 turn while reaching for the newspaper on the counter and start off towards the table to place that paper; all fluid and with no thought. Not so for Russ and so many with mobility issues. He has to break it down into tiny pieces doing each step as an individual movement and stabilizing in between. Movements we take for granted are skills Russ must now make mental strategies for and then practice repeatedly.
I say this because we were both rather shocked the other day by an experience Russ had. This quote says it all...
"I think there is a misconception that identifying as having a disability or being disabled means that you’ve given up, that you don’t see yourself as anything other than your illness or injury. This isn’t true."
Here is what happened...
Russ went to the gym to walk the track (flat, uncomplicated, no obstacles). He got out of his car and walked around the other side to get something from the front seat of the passengers side. He opened the door (NOT an easy move for him as he must back up as the door opens) and as the door opened a piece of paper flew out. He reached down to pick it up, lost his balance and was on the ground in a second. He was parked in an ADA parking spot, the kind that has a wide open area between cars. A man he had not noticed was sitting in the next car. The man opened his window and asked Russ if he was OK, if he needed help? Russ gave his usual response of 'I'll be fine, thank you for asking. It will take me a while, but I'll make it up eventually.' The man was fine with that until the piece of paper blew further away and he decided to get that for Russ while Russ focused on getting up. Here is where the quote comes in...