When Barry Met Larry

Cherry

By Silver Spun Sand

Tue, 08 Apr 2014
  • 1815 reads
4 comments
 
“Hello, stranger. How you doing?
Only thinking, the other week –
not laid eyes on you for ages,
and now look who I meet!
 
They told me what the matter was; 
you know how people talk,
but I had to say I’d guessed it
from that telltale way you walk.
 
My dear old dad, God rest his soul,
had the self-same thing, you see,
but he never made a thing of it, said, 
There’s plenty worse than me.
 
That’s true enough, but hand on heart, 
I don’t mind telling you, the Lord himself
knows how I’d be, if I got the damned thing, too.
Still, sure as summer follows spring,
life carries on the same, and you have to make
the best of it...Say, don’t it look like rain?”
 
“It sure does, mate, and I have to say,
it’s great to see you, too. Mention Parkinson’s
to most folk, and they haven’t got a clue.
 
Take my hat off to your father, would have liked
to shake this hand; the pun was as intended.
Your dad would understand. Can’t say the same
for Tesco’s; upsetting and frustrating... 
fumbling at the checkout,  couldn’t miss 
what folk were saying...
 
Disgusting’s what I call it...this early
in the day. It’s this twenty-four hour opening; 
the government’s to blame. Can’t string
two words together;  blighter’s drunk, right enough!
 
No...it’s Parkinson’s, madam, 
and I’m sober as a judge!
 
Die inside, just a little, yet
with stiff, upper lip – quip,
I do so beg your pardon.
What I don’t do is ‘quick’.
 
So I bid them a good morning –
them with egg on their face.
Well, you have to laugh, don’t you?”
 
Beats crying, any day.
Certificate PG
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
Biography

Comments

Submitted by Bee on

Hi Tina.

You've got the every day living with it just right - and the fact that the person's sense of humour and personality are still very much in tact, (despite the ignorant attitudes around them). Some of this really made me chuckle, but the bit about Tesco - that was upsetting. I've seen close hand what this disease can mean.

 

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

My thanks for reading this, Bee, and for your thoughts.

My husband has had Parkinson's for thirteen years now...diagnosed when he'd just turned fifty.  Medication helped, at first, but now, as the disease progresses, there are no stronger drugs he can take to counteract the ongoing lack of dopamine levels in his brain.  Deep-brain implant's- the only option, and my research, and that of my daughter's, doesn't show this in a very favourable light, so we will have to keep on hoping for that 'cure' which is many, many years away, realistically. Mind you, miracles do happensmiley sometimes.

As to day-to-day living, most people respond well if he just comes straight out with it, when they look at him rather oddly, and explains his condition.  In fact, the most interested person we found, was on the checkout at our local Tesco.  Turned out that one of her family had Parkinson's too, and we did have a rather nice, but long chat.  Meantime, the queue behind us was growing longer and longer...Nuff saidsmiley

Tina

 

 

Submitted by Denzella on

Tina,

This is great.  I don't know how I missed it.  You have summed up the daily  frustrations so well.  Checkouts can be the very devil.  I don't know if it was you who told me of  a person with Parkinson's  who was getting some irritable mutterings from people in the queue.  She turned to them and said yes,  Parkinon's is inconvenient but you only have to deal with it now I have to deal with it every moment of every day.

Hope Hubby is coping and that you are too. 

Moya

Be back soon!

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Moya - sometimes, words are not enough, and this is one of those times.

And as to coping...yes, I guess we are.  Not much choice, when it comes right down to it...but at least we have that choice, and as such, I (we) feel privileged.

Thanks, so very much, Moya.  We often talk of you, and you are a constant in Hubby's lifesmiley  Truly.

Tina