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Parkinson’s slows life down, but doesn’t stop a family’s love
My dad is one of the smartest people I know. He attended a technical school and, in the 1980s, turned that into a small business repairing stereos, TVs, VCRs, and, later, computers. If it could be tinkered with, my dad could x it, and his skills were so in need that they provided for our family when I was growing up.
It was my mom and dad’s dream to raise a family in the mountains. ey accomplished this dream. My dad sold his business, we uprooted from our home in Arkansas and moved to a mountain home in Colorado. I was in the fourth grade.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember that my dad has Parkinson’s disease.
He was diagnosed about 12 years ago.
In many ways, he is the same Mr. Fixit. But in other ways, he is not. It’s the little things. e day I moved into my new condo, as a rst-time homebuyer this past fall, I thought nothing of
KRISTEN FIORE West Metro Editor kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com
CORINNE WESTEMAN Community Editor cwesteman@coloradocommunitymedia.com it when asking my dad to bring his tools so he could change the front door lock. I thought this would be an easy chore for him while everyone else carried the heavy moving boxes up and down the stairs. at he remembered the tools is a win given his Parkinson’s. But my mom discreetly told me that he wouldn’t be able to change the lock — because of the cognitive skills he has lost over the years to the disease. And, thinking back, it’s possible that she brought the tools for him, though I didn’t ask.
Again, it’s the little things that
ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com
AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com
ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com
LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com don’t seem to matter at the time, but add up, in retrospect, and show how much my dad has changed.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive and degenerative brain disorder that a ects a person’s muscle movement. But it is so much more than a movement disorder. e disease itself is not necessarily fatal, but complications can be serious and it can greatly diminish quality of life. Along with the motor, or movement, symptoms, there are many other symptoms. People with Parkinson’s
Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Transcript.
Golden Transript (ISSN 0746-6382)
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