Stick the World back together Parkinson’s Day 2016

 It fell apart. I truly believed, felt even, that the world had fallen apart. Heard it rumbling throughout the night, louder and louder and then!

Then what?

Worlds do tend to fall apart from time to time. Ours did when one of our children died. In fact, it was her world that fell apart, her future. But our world and our future were forever tied to hers, so our world fell to pieces too. The word Acceptance is out of the question. Nope. Not me. Picking up the pieces to rebuild a cracked and broken world, absolutely.
You have to build a world, in order to be able to face the future, a world for your family of 5 + 1. And somehow you manage, you get back on your feet. Stumbling over the rocks and stones of your previous world, carefully picking them up, carrying them with you wherever you go.

We’re quite good builders

Our team of 5+1. Happy builders too, not every single moment, but we’re frequently caught whistling at beautiful passers-by. And our construction team has since expanded to include builder friends, each with their own expertise. Some bring a giant tube of glue, to fix the broken parts, others bring builder’s hands of sandpaper, to wipe away our tears.

Then the rumbling starts anew

Suddenly, unexpectedly, taking you by surprise. No! Can’t be! Yep. Sorry, Ms Robijn. Parkinson’s. The walls of your world come tumbling down once more. No way can I pick up the pieces this time, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Thing is, Parkinson’s will keep on chipping away, relentlessly knocking off bits and pieces of your world, over and over again. So what’s the point? The point is: you have to pick up the pieces, the rocks and the stones.

On the 101st day…

You’ll wake to a world that fell apart a hundred times over. But then, on that hundred and first day, you’ll wake to find it rebuilt. By who? Was it us? The brave construction team? Friends? Family? Researchers? Carers? They all did a sterling job! Okay, a number of cracks still remain, but cracks have that unique ability of letting the light flood in. I love those cracks.
World Parkinson’s Day is the day that Parkinson’s builders come together to draw up plans for a world without Parkinson’s. The same builders that are working to help us rebuild our world, cracks and all. A world I call my home, our family home. Where our beautiful daughter plays piano, our clever son cracks an endless stream of jokes, and our delightful, almost grown up daughter plans for her future. Where we live together, cry together, laugh together, stumbling over life’s rocks and stones, all the while whistling at the beauty in our world.

Stick The World Back Together Parkinson’s Day 2016

Stick the World back together Parkinson’s Day 2016
Friends, researchers, supporters, doctors, health care professionals, all of you builders:
Thank you for ‘Stick The World Back Together Parkinson’s Day 2016’.