This has been my project over the weekend. With my trusty spray gun, I have finally finished painting my fence. At times the paint would run and at times for some reason the paint came out faster than it should. I had to try to cover up some of the runs in the paint. So, when you look at this photo you might say that the fence is not perfect and I’m OK with that.
But what this does represent is that I have been able to achieve a goal of painting the fence. It looks markedly better than it did before, and I am proud of my achievement. Perhaps someone else might have been able to do a better job, but for me the satisfaction I feel at being able to do something like this is perfect in itself. Another thing that I have been able to do around the house, that I can look at in future and know that I did this all by myself.
In front of the fence are some plants that I have put in which hopefully will grow and be something beautiful I can see out of my kitchen window. By the time I got to planting the plants, my energy levels were starting to flag. Here is where I have learned a life lesson. Rather than stubbornly plodding on to the point of exhaustion, when my husband asked if he could help, I was able to say ‘Yes, please!’ Both of us have learned a lot about each other during this journey with Parkinson’s. He has learned not to offer his help too quickly and to give me the space to do things for myself as much as possible. In turn, I have learned to recognize signs of fatigue in myself and to know when to take an offer of help. So, when he came home from work and asked me if I wanted some help with the planting, I was more than happy to have his help.
This home is so much more important to me than my previous home. I did love our old home and there were many lovely memories made there. However, this is the home that we will grow old in together. The home that we chose to be our haven as Parkinson’s progresses and we both slow down with age. We are both very invested in making this home our own and working together to put our stamp on it. Every plant that is planted, every thing that is painted, every chore that we do that improves our environment is something we have done together and that we can look back on in the future.
We continue to work together, as we always have and in doing so both have the satisfaction of making this a home to be proud of. Having Parkinson’s spurs me on to do more to this house than the previous one because it is our forever home. For myself and for my husband, we continue to be a team as we always have been. It is times like these and diagnoses like Parkinson’s that prove the worth of a relationship. Working together and supporting each other in all that we do as we always have just highlights how amazingly lucky I am to be with someone as supportive as my husband. Parkinson’s will never take that away from us.
My journey with Parkinsons 