Impatiently Waiting for Patience

We’ve had a really pretty and fairly warm autumn. My heavy winter coat still hasn’t seen the light of day. But this morning we all woke up to snow and the temperatures probably won’t get out of the mid-teens. Thankfully Bill got most of the leaves picked up during the warm weather last week, and the snow will make certain the rest will come down this weekend. Our daughter and her family will be making their way from Vermont on Friday, and this weather, which is supposed to last the next few days, won’t be anything new to them.

As you can see, I don’t really have much in the way of a theme this morning. Yesterday Bill had his semiannual checkup with his neurologist/movement disorder specialist. He is always calm; I, on the other hand, am always a wreck. Having survived yesterday, my mind is kind of weary.

I’m happy to say that his appointment went well. His progression remains slow, and he was put on a different medication which is purported to be practically magical in how well it treats the symptoms! Keeping my fingers crossed.

There is no point in dwelling every day on why Bill has Parkinson’s. The reality is that no one knows why anyone gets it. I’ve never believed, certainly, that God sits up on his big white throne in heaven and points at people and says, “You’re going to get cancer, and you’re going to be in a car accident, and you’re going to get PD.” He put us on earth and we have free will and the way the earth was created leads to weather events and so forth. And, frankly, yucky stuff happens to people who don’t deserve it, and nobody understands why.

What I do spend a lot of time thinking about, however, is how Bill and I can handle our life and what we can we get out of it. Bill, for his part, handles his PD with absolute grace and dignity. He pretty much just ignores the fact that he has PD and lives his life, perhaps doing things different ways or asking me or others for help with no embarrasment. I am telling you, the man NEVER, EVER COMPLAINS.

I complain a lot, I’m afraid. Maybe not to others, but to myself, through impatience. But I believe that I am slowly but surely learning to be more patient. The other day I was walking down a narrow aisle behind a woman with a slight walking impairment who was moving quite slowly. I found myself getting so impatient, though I had nowhere I had to be. The good news is that I recognized my fault. She is clearly unable to walk faster, I reminded myself, and she likely wishes she could. Get a grip!

Patience is a virtue, isn’t it? It’s hard for me to wait to gain that particular virtue! (Wow. I crack myself up.)

I was tired after the appointment and knew I wouldn’t want to cook, so we made a stop at the grocery store and I bought the fixings for a really cheating dinner. I bought a half pound of ground beef, a bottle of good spaghetti sauce, and some spinach and grated carrots from the salad bar. At home I browned the ground

beef and added the vegetables to the browned meat to soften. I added the sauce and served it over spaghetti. A one-pot meal! I didn’t even have to bother with making a salad.