It is snowing today, it snowed yesterday and will probably be snowing tomorrow. We are snowed in during a pandemic lockdown. If that isn’t an unexpected challenge, I don’t know what is! My patience is beginning to wear thin.

I wrote those words earlier this week and, while the snow is mostly gone now, the storm caused disruption in our lives and it is hard to get back on track. Thanks to the snow, appointments had to be rescheduled, exercise classes were missed, even our daily walks were impacted because you can only do so much when trapped in your house. I am thankful that we weren’t hit as hard as many people in our community, we never lost power and had plenty of food and water. And, the snowy wonderland outside the windows was beautiful to look at, just not for 3 days straight.

Things are slowly returning to normal and I am realizing how much I depend on our routines. I always blamed my husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis for our tight schedule that seemed to limit what we could and couldn’t do. Now I understand that his schedule is a framework that creates a positive roadmap for both of us as we navigate the daily challenges of both retirement and PD.