About The Author:

Joy was diagnosed with PD at the age of 45 in 1997. She has only one of her four children still living at home, a thirteen-year-old son. The other three are married and she has two grandsons and three grand-dogs. She is hoping to replace the grand-dogs with grand children in the near future.

After the initial shock of finding herself facing a chronic and progressive disease Joy got involved in the local Parkinson's community and eventually co-facilitated the Early Onset support group with Murray Charters for four years. She continued to work full time for five more years after her diagnosis but eventually found the demands of work and family overwhelming and decided that the career had to go.

Joy's life is still a very active one and her two passions are drawing and writing, two things that spent a lot of years on the back burner as her children were growing up and she pursued a career in Insurance. She now has time for them and she is the first to admit she gives them priority over the mundane chores of running a home. Life is too short to spend on things that can wait until tomorrow.

After a two year break from facilitating a support group she is back as facilitator of the Tri-City group in Coquitlam British Columbia. She and fellow writer Pauline Neck, who also has Parkinson's, published a collection of short inspirational stories this year and plan to work on another one in the future. Joy has written several articles for the Parkinson community both locally and for the internet. She has also written scripts for two Reader's Theatre productions put on by her church, opinion articles for her local newspaper and is looking forward to seeing a second piece of her poetry published this spring. (Her first poem was published in 1973, so it's been a long time since she picked up her writers pen).

Her oldest son has followed his mother's creative legacy, making Cinematography his art form and winning an Emmy for his first short dramatic film, and in 2003 picking up the Jimmy Stewart Heartland Award for his first full length feature film "Saints and Soldiers". He will be releasing his second feature film this spring and will be working on a Major Motion picture studio film after that. Joy is pleased that at least one of her children will have a big house in a warm climate where she can lounge by the pool in her old age.

Joy believes that a good laugh, homemade whole wheat bread and walking with her buddy Ruth will go a long way to keep her moving until a significant breakthrough in PD comes down the road. She's not a chat room girl, but keeps up on Parkinson's web talk on the MGH Braintalk forum and can be identified by the unmistakable smell of pickled herring on her breath at 2 am. Oh that's right, Parkies can't smell!

She prefers to read and write non-fiction and hopes to lift spirits and make you smile through her contributions to Virtuality. You could say it's her goal to bring a little joy into your life

Lately I’ve given a lot of thought to the whole business of acquiring wisdom. Likely, this is because I look into the mirror and see the outward signs of sagelyness creeping up on me but can’t detect a corresponding internal phenomenon. In other words, I seem to be getting older but not much smarter.

It is a commonly held belief that wisdom comes with age. While wisdom does seem to require time to develop, I don’t see any evidence that the passing of time guarantees wisdom as an end product. I’m guessing that wisdom results from a combination of factors, like baking cookies, or making a pie. I think I can visualize wisdom as a pie recipe that would sound something like this:

For the bottom layer, press a large portion of common sense firmly into a round pan with a few spoonfuls of blood, sweat and tears (well maybe not blood). Combine experience, honest evaluation and logical thought in a separate bowl; fold gently together to preserve the integrity of the filling. Spread this filling evenly over entire crust layer. Whip large package of wit with a touch of backbone together until fluffy, and drop by spoonful on the experience layer.

Of course this is just a fanciful meandering of the mind, but it illustrates that wisdom is a combination of many things that come together over time. I also think it requires our attention to the details and outcomes in life.

I recently spent a day giving a good friend the day off from his duties as caregiver to his elderly father. “Grandpa” (who I have known for thirty five years) recently had some surgery and as he was coming out of the hospital his wife was being admitted for another problem and was to undergo surgery herself later that day. My friend was feeling the effects of caring for two aging parents and on this particular day I filled in as caregiver while he went off to look after some errands and get himself an ice cream cone (self-care). I sat with Grandpa who is still of sound mind in spite of a badly failing body and it was a wonderful day.

We talked about politics and religion and how much the world has changed in his lifetime. I made us some lunch and we ate it in the sacred living room where his wife would never allow us to do such a thing were she home. We talked about how short life really is and contemplated the value of struggle and suffering. Of course we talked about Parkinson’s disease and the impact it has on my life. Wisdom, I learned, finds value in everything.

As Grandpa and I visited together I discovered something I have long suspected: wisdom’s traveling companion is wit. Wisdom without wit sours quickly.

After I came home and considered the day, I felt much better about the balance between my own body and mind. I guess I do know a few things about life, so I set myself the task of writing some of what I’ve learned so far down on paper. I like to think these thoughts reflect the seedlings of wisdom with a bit of wit thrown in for good measure. (We all like those desserts with the fluffy toppings.)

1. Nothing lasts forever. Some things last far too long, but nothing lasts forever.
2. If there is any truth to the theory of reincarnation, there are a lot of slow learners on this planet.
3. Self-help books will not change your life, even if you read them.
4. If you want to make a lot of money, write a self-help book.
5. Possessing knowledge has nothing to do with understanding how to use it (see #3).
6. You’re only as old as your driver’s license says you are.
7. If someone compliments you on your driver’s license photo you may be in worse shape than you thought.
8. If you found Prince charming by kissing frogs, don’t be surprised if he turns back into a frog after you’ve been kissing him for a while. (note: principle can be adapted to princesses)
9. Wisdom and age are completely unrelated.
10. If you miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity don’t worry about it. Another one will be along shortly.
11. Two heads are rarely better than one, unless you’ve found a sale on lettuce.
12. Everyone has a dark side.
13. If you want to have a happy marriage don’t get emotionally involved with your spouse.
14. Fools rush in, but if you snooze you lose.
15. Losing is not always a bad thing.
16. A fool and his/her money is not someone you want to share a joint bank account with.
17. Happiness comes from the inside.
18. If the shoe fits, buy it!
19. A bird in the hand usually means we’re having chicken for dinner.
20. You can fill your mind with knowledge but you don’t really know anything until you know it in your heart.

Grandma will be home from the hospital soon and will likely have some insights to share with me also, so I’ll have to give her equal time. Grandpa tells me it is always a wise idea to keep Grandma happy. He says he learned that a long time ago and he’s quite convinced it has contributed to his longevity. They have been through sixty years of marriage together, and it occurred to me reflecting back on my visit with Grandpa, they are like wisdom and wit: they don’t exist easily apart either.

If you have any comments or words of wisdom please e-mail me at joyomyheart@yahoo.com