MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR--AUGUST 2024

As we enter August, I’ve been thinking a lot about disaster. Maybe it’s the summer storms... a hurricane in Houston, tornadoes throughout the Midwest, heatwaves out East, the approach of wildfire season here in California. These catastrophes throw us into survival mindset; we review our own disaster checklists. We tally our batteries, water reserves, check our flashlights, take stock of our non-perishables. We run scenarios in our heads: what happens if the power goes out?; If the neighborhood floods?; If I have to leave my home?; If I can’t leave my home?

For all the chaos that accompanies our annual “natural disasters,” they are somehow easier to contemplate than the more intimate, private disaster... loss of a loved one. I think that’s the real reason I’ve been dwelling on disaster. As we enter August, I approach a dreaded anniversary: one year ago I lost a close friend to unexpected complications from cancer treatment.

It’s easy to fall into an uneasy complacency with chronic illness. The good days blend into the bad days which blend into weeks, months, years and the promise of the growing past seems to negate the shrinking future. Meanwhile, the eternal present is so busy. We have doctors to visit and dogs to walk and groceries to buy and prescriptions to fill and appointments to schedule.

At the end of the day though, be it a natural disaster, a private disaster, a minor disaster, it’s our community that gets us through. It’s the people who show up, clean up, feed us, comfort us, and express in countless ways “I care about you.”

This month’s Newsletter features articles on disaster preparedness and living well in the present. I’m also excited to share a new community-building initiative for those of you in the Coachella Valley: PRO’s Social Club. Our inaugural club event is September 25th. Read the rest of the Newsletter for a teaser. I hope you enjoy the opportunity to get together with other members of our Parkinson’s community for some fun activities to reduce isolation and engage our bodies and brains. I’m really looking forward to it.

Until then, read on for more about PARKINSON’S LINK TO GUT BACTERIA SUGGESTS UNEXPECTED, SIMPLE TREATMENT, HOW TO TALK TO ELDERLY PARENTS ABOUT DRIVING, HOW TO SURVIVE AN EXTENDED POWER OUTAGE WITH HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, CREATING A BUCKET LIST: TIPS FOR SENIORS AND FAMILY CAREGIVERS, and PRO IS GOING SOCIAL!.

Until next month, REMEMBER National Friendship Day on August 4th, Annual Medical Check-Up day on August 11th, National Nonprofit Day on August 17th, and National Grief Awareness Day on August 30th. The flower is the gladiola, and the birthstone is the peridot and spinel.

ALWAYS remember to CELEBRATE YOU and LEAD WITH LOVE.