Thank You

getting my hair done

Thank You.  Those are two words that we use a lot in our daily lives.  We say it to strangers who open doors for us, we say it to the person who styles our hair, our neighbors and even our Doctors, but how often do you say it to your family?

When is the last time you said Thank You to your spouse, partner, or caregiver and really meant it? 

When my Wonderful Husband and I got married 26 years ago, we decided to treat each other as best friends as well as spouses.  We never say bad things about each other to anyone and we say Thank You to each other often.    

Since this thing called Parkinson's Disease entered our lives, many things have changed, but our appreciation for each other hasn't.  He Thanks me for still being able to take care of the laundry and bills and I Thank him for taking out the trash and helping with the floors (both of which were my jobs before PD).  I also Thank him for cooking (which he is excellent at) and all the other tons of stuff he does.  

Neither one of us contemplated that I would be the one who needed taking care of.  I am 20 years younger than him.  But he never complains and neither do I.  I know couples who are in similar situations and the care giver feels cheated and the one needing care is mean and hateful and yet both of them would never be that way to a friend.  It's no ones fault that a serious illness comes into your lives, so don't blame anyone, especially the person you married. 

Yesterday, a neighbor said to my Wonderful Husband that he is amazed at how optimistic I am and last night, my Wonderful Husband said he wondered how life would be if I wasn't.  I said "I hope we never find out".  Now, go and say Thank You to your care partner and give them a great big Hug while you are at it.  

And Thank You to everyone who reads this.

Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!