Life with my husband is intense some days. I find myself getting so deep into caring for his illness that I forget to care for him. When he fell recently, I spent the rest of the day following him and watching to make sure it didn’t happen again. I stepped too deeply in the caregiver role that day and forgot that he is my husband, not my patient. I realized that it was time to lighten up and be playful again.

When it feels like PD is taking over our lives, we try our best to find something to do that we did before. Early in our marriage, we instituted a weekly game night. The TV went off and the games came out. We planned it for Wednesday, midway through our work week, and it was a great way to have fun and stay connected. The games may change over the years, but we can still enjoy this and it reconnects us to earlier days.

We also like to go for walks together, with or without the dog. Long drives in the country are nice, my husband used to take his camera along but now we rely on our phones. We enjoy sharing a favorite meal at home or watching a fun movie together. The key is to put aside his diagnosis and find the fun again. I think we all have those days when, if we weren’t laughing we’d be crying, and isn’t a laugh between lovers better after all?