You have most definitely been a force for positivity and cool-headedness in this forum. You have inspired and supported and educated in countless ways, and no doubt we won’t be the only ones to say it. Your time is your own, and no matter how much of it you decide to spend here, we will be grateful for it.
We wish you the best in your life as Tot first, and your Parkinson’s journey second, and hope you will pop in when you are able to let us know how you are doing, at least every once in a while.
With our sincerest respect and best possible wishes,
We will miss your helpful posts and contributions to the site very much. Your support and insight about all things PD related has often given us hope, signposting us to many other areas for information, but more over making us feel less isolated with this condition. We wish you well as you take a back seat from the forum. We are both the same age as yourself and relate so much to a lot of what you say about life in general .best wishes to you
Thank you all for your lovely replies. I’m not disappearing altogether, just feel in need of a bit of a break from replying as much as I have done. I joined the forum in 2018 and started contributing quite soon after that. It’s a long time not to mention the time it took. to write as I did… It’s right for me to ‘take a back seat’ as Jandc put it, especially as this has not been an easy year for me what with one thing and another and I think I have to put me first at least for a while. However when I saw the lovely comments Jandc that you had taken the trouble to post and Jason, too - I was very touched by what you wrote and to be held in such high regard , I felt I had to stop by and explain a little bit of my decision. Steve2 I was less sure of what you wrote and being called a ‘poster’ even if you considered me the best lol. I jest, I know exactly what you meant but it did make me smile, which is no bad way to bring things to a close. My thanks to you all.
Tot
It ïs going to be a great day today. After a year planning it, my wife and I fly off on our first proper holiday for years.
11 weeks of sun sea and sand. First stop is Singapore, then Australia. Part way through our stay in Oz we go to The Cook Islands. Just a little place called Rarotonga.
I had my ears pierced as a present to myself for my 19th birthday and loved wearing earrings.
I gave up wearing them some time ago when it became more difficult to put them on as my fine motor skills became not so fine and I was resigned to the fact that my earring wearing days were over. Purely by accident I recently discovered that the clip on type - which had quite big and heavy clasps and used to hurt one’s ear lobes after only a short time wearing them - had undergone something of a transformation… They are now light to wear with smaller clasps that are comfortable for several hours or even all day and can look as dainty as any designed for pierced ears. Today was a good day celebrating the purchase of my first pair of clip-on earrings giving me back something I thought had gone forever.
Tot
PS I did think of posting a photo but on balance decided I couldn’t inflict that on everyone lol
I went to the spiritual home of Australia, Uluru. As the sun stated to rise behind it a plethora of colour swept across central Australia. It was definitely worth waiting 30 years for.
In many ways this has been a terrible year. Since my Mum’s death in April at the grand age of 93, I have been told of five other deaths, one totally unexpected and at only 71, another who seemed to be doing alright but suddenly deteriorated and who was only 70. The other three were all around my age or younger. So why am I posting to Today is a good day?. The answer is simple - although I know this and have written it often on the forum ie today is a once only, there are no repeats - the terrible tally this year has seen given me a graphic reminder of how fragile life is, that however much we might face challenges and have all sorts of problems that can bring us to our knees, we are still here and if we so choose, can still find something good in every day. Today is a good day because it is never a bad thing to be reminded of the fragility of life and we shouldn’t take it for granted in the way we so often do.
Tot
Today was a very good day for me. Twice before my personal trainer and I have taken the train from home to the next town and walked back towards home along the towpath. Today we decided to walk from home towards the next town and on the way - as I was feeling good - decided we would walk back. That was a first, a total of about 6 kms. Not only that but we did it in a very respectable time of 1 hr 45 an average pace of between 14 and 17 and we both enjoyed it. To finish the day off what had started as a cold and frosty morning turned into a beautiful, bright afternoon. How can I say anything other than today has been a good day for me.
Tot
Thank you ElleMac. It has long been a favourite walk of mine but when the Parkinson’s kicked in it was a struggle to get from my flat to the towpath and home again. I had pretty much resigned myself it was something I wouldn’t be able to do again. The first time I managed the walk one way was wonderful, the second time was one way but we did it in a faster time and I would have settled for that. To go both ways, in a reasonable time and to feel as good as I did when we had finished (although I was starting to flag a bit lol) is the stuff of dreams. It’s made me even more determined not to give Parkinson’s an easy win - not that that hasn’t always been so lol.
Tot
Hello lovely lady, I’ve not been on the forum in a while and am catching up on what has been happening. I read you were not posting but am so glad you are still here Tot! Congratualtions on your achievements with your personal trainer, a proud moment, enjoy it! I will message you and catch up before Christmas. Doing okay, lots of appointments, finally relaxing into being officially retired, coffee and cake days, have just found out I probably don’t need another shoulder op which is fantastic news and the house is now up for sale and am looking for a bungalow! Catch up with you soon x
Posted on the WhatsApp group shared by the 4 flats where I live and is used for all sorts but this takes some beating Good morning - does anyone have a couple of slices of bread please? Just realised my best friend made herself some toast yesterday when she had the boys not realising she was eating pack lunch supplies From a desperate L - C saved the day.
I have always had really good neighbours and don’t take that for granted but somehow this post at 7.30 am this morning says very clearly that the others all think the same. Today is a good day because L’s twins have now got lunch because of the neighbours and a WhatsApp group How lucky are we to have each other.
2024 has been a difficult year for many and criticism and negativity of anything and everything sems to be the increasingly common order of the day; that may be so but there is time however busy and complex your circumstance may be to take a few minutes in the day to find something to which you can say ‘Today was a good day…’ Why is that important? For me the answer is simple. It really doesn’t matter if it’s a grand, sweeping gesture or something small and insignificant, if you share it in whatever way best suits you, it can have a ripple effect touching others in unexpected ways and maybe, just maybe you will give someone a bit of hope where there is none, or of happiness to replace the pain, a bit of comfort to ease the loneliness. What a wonderful gift that would be this Christmas time. Maybe some of you will try it and if you are so minded tell us about it on this thread,
Today was a good day because I am staying Christmas Eve night with an elderly friend who finds waking up on Christmas morning hard and is when she most misses her husband who died a few years ago… It doesn’t cost me much to stay over but I know it makes a world of difference to her - a perfect gift costing nothing but a bit of time from me which gives such pleasure to us both,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
Tot
Dear Tot,
Your calmness and wisdom has many times given me comfort and help over the past few years that I have been a member of this forum. Of course I fully understand you when you say the time has come for you to retire. You have my best wishes for a long and happy retirement. I have been at various stages with you .At first I was very clear that needed by you to come and live in my house so you could so wonderfully support me as I came to terms with the diagnosis . Then as time went on that you livedclose
Hello Tam64
Thank you for your very kind words, it’s nice to know that I helped you a little to manage your Parkinson’s and I hope that you are doing well and enjoying life.
I am not ‘retiring’ completely. I’m just not posting as frequently as I have been doing. I still keep an eye on what’s about, reply when it seems right to do so and so on. The fact is last year was quite hard going for various reasons and I just felt I needed to take a bit of time out and put myself first for the time being.
Best wishes.
Tot
From a desperate L - C saved the day.
How lucky are we to have each other.