April Is All About Parkinson’s

Every clan enjoys its special celebrations. In my extended family, April marks Parkinson’s Awareness Month and I’m offering up a treat in honor of the occasion.

During my college days, I was privileged to encounter a remarkable professor who became my mentor and transformed my Brown experience with his brilliant lectures, droll anecdotes and unwavering support for my dedication to his personal and professional passion, Russian History, a major we jointly fashioned. I’ll even confess an unrequited and short-lived “schoolgirl crush.” Charismatic and compelling, Abbott Gleason is someone who secures an impression!

In a bitter twist of irony, several years ago Professor Gleason, long-standing member of my Brown University family, joined my movement disorder family with onset of Parkinson’s. He breathed his journey to life in an evocative article, “Getting Around in Oz,” that served as inspiration for this blog, encouraging me to fling open the gates of my wild Dystonia ride. Abbott Gleason presented a vision of how to educate with humor and wit absent a trace of doctor-speak. In his wry introduction to his personal odyssey with Parkinson’s, you’ll glimpse the measure of this man. Onto the main attraction, truly worthy of a read:  Getting Around in Oz.

I urge you to check out the Parkinson’s sites featured below and in my sidebar. If you find your way to NYC this month, don’t miss the Parkinson’s Unity Walk in Central Park on April 27, 2013, an impressive statement of solidarity by the Parkinson’s community.

As April unfolds, I’m sending a shout out to everyone who battles Parkinson’s and hope you’ll do the same. We need link arms in friendship to extend the spirit of the Unity Walk. No one person, no single medical condition, stands alone. Team Dystonia declares Let’s Beat Parkinson’s!