Our lives with Parkinson’s have become fairly predictable. I get up each day knowing the tasks I will be asked to face and often close myself to the rest of the world. I open the blinds but forget to look and see if it’s sunny outside because I am too engaged in what is going on inside. There are often days when I don’t leave the house, not even making it to my back yard.

Even if it is just a weather check, I need to reach out and know that there is more to life than my husband’s diagnosis and my duties as a Carepartner. I need to remember that each day has so much more to offer if I just take a moment to open myself up to it. Granted, weather can be a barrier, but fresh air always helps me clear my head and can give me a better perspective. And I have a raincoat with a hood that keeps me warm and dry.

I am sitting at my computer desk now looking out at a beautiful sunny sky. My husband’s diagnosis of PD may try to confine me, but as long as I can look beyond these walls I realize there is still beauty and goodness in the world. I’m going to get out and experience it today.