Over the past few days, my husband and I have been working around our section together and tidying up.
It may seem strange, but I found that I really enjoyed the physicality of lifting items into my car and loading it to take to the dump and then unloading at the dump. Yes, it does sound strange, but for me being an active part of a partnership makes me happy. With my recent experiences of recovery from shoulder surgery and then fracturing a vertebrae in a fall – where I couldn’t lift anything for months, or do much at all round the house – being able to engage in physical and quite strenuous activity, I find very satisfying.
Yesterday, we worked on a piece of the garden that needed clearing and weed matting and then carrying loads of stones to cover it. It was a bigger job than we both anticipated and took us all day. We were both exhausted, but ended the day with a sense of achievement in what we had been able to do.
Since my diagnosis, I find I appreciate things I would not have thought about previously. I celebrate what I can do, rather than focussing too much on what I can’t. Working around our home and doing it together brings me much satisfaction that I can contribute in this way. Doing it together with my husband and having a shared purpose and sharing our achievement is so satisfying.
So, I will continue to find joy in the strangest places. Anything I can share with my husband in making our new home what we want it to be is another step towards feeling truly at home. The fact that it is a joint effort makes the results all the sweeter.
My journey with Parkinsons 