I am finding that the biggest difference in the two roles, besides my age, involves the trajectory of care. When I was raising my son, I looked forward to a time when he wouldn’t need my help anymore. As a CarePartner for someone with Parkinson’s Disease, the opposite is true. My husband’s condition will progress, and my workload will increase. We recently reached a point where I couldn’t keep up and I needed to bring in additional support. While he will have good days, we will never reach the point where we need less support.

With my toddler, I learned to use less words, with my husband I use more as I try to communicate effectively. In both roles my job is to make our environment safer, child proofing with my son and fall prevention with my husband. I live constantly on alert wondering where he is, what he is doing, if he is safe. When caring for a young child I worried when it got too quiet; now I worry about noises that I don’t recognize and rush to make sure all is okay. It often isn’t.

Being a CarePartner is a difficult task that I willingly accept because I know my husband would do the same for me. I understand that this journey will be arduous, and the final outcome will bring great pain. I learn more about this disease and the body as we move forward but even more important, I am learning about myself. I am finding my courage, my compassion and yes at times, the limits to my capabilities. I used to think being a parent was the most difficult task I had ever faced, being a CarePartner tops it. My husband is still the man I fell in love with all those years ago, I can’t let this diagnosis take that away from us. The challenges may be great, but the rewards will always outweigh them.