This weekend was one of the rare weekends when my husband and I have the whole three day weekend together. With him doing shift work, it doesn’t happen that often, so we decided to go into the city and stay the night and go out for dinner. Living a bit further out of town these days, it makes for a nice relaxed evening without having to worry about getting home at the end of the evening.
We have both enjoyed connecting with each other and talking about some of the memories of trips that we have had together. Over the years we have had trips to the UK and Australia and Rarotonga and we were talking about the favourite places we had been and some of the restaurants we had enjoyed dining in while overseas and also during trips around New Zealand.
We both remarked that we are so lucky that we have lots of memories of our travels together and so grateful we didn’t need to wait until we retired. All too often I work with people who are under 65 years of age who have had a stroke or other Neurological event and haven’t been able to travel and have those precious memories of exploring new places.
When we first got together I was a poor student studying for my Social Work degree and trips away were ones where we could go overnight and often camping and staying in backpackers. Once I qualified and was able to contribute to the cost of our breaks, we started to be able to have some overseas holidays and stay in nicer accommodation. However, some of my best memories have been camping together and waking up to beautiful scenery just in New Zealand. It hasn’t really mattered where we have gone home or abroad, but just sharing the experiences together is what matters. I also spoke about the fact that there may come a time when my husband might need to go back to the UK without me. He needs to be able to meet up with his family in England and if I can no longer travel then that might be a future reality. However, we both said that part of the fun of travelling is seeing new places and remarking on the scenery or experience you are having together. On your own you obviously don’t have anyone to do that with.
I am grateful for the travels and experiences we have shared and hope to have many more. I savour every new experience and the time we can spend together exploring new places. For any of us – whether affected by Parkinson’s or not – we don’t have a crystal ball to know what the future holds. That’s what makes it important to grab every opportunity to make and share memories together.
Memories don’t have to be based on overseas trips or expensive outings, it is the sharing of experiences whether large or small, local or abroad that matters.
My journey with Parkinsons 