My  Parkinson’s network is a very diverse and fun group of people, many of whom I probably never would have met had it not been for my husband’s diagnosis. When we get together, we always have so much to share about our daily lives and the challenges we face thanks to Parkinson’s. I don’t know if they are Democrats or Republicans, I don’t know if they have a religious affiliation or even whether they are flat Earthers. It truly doesn’t matter because what we do share is more important than any of that. We share in the journey to survive PD.

In a world that seems so shattered, we have found the value of bonding. We don’t discuss politics, we discuss pills. We don’t debate dogma, we debate interventions and treatments. We don’t compare candidates, we compare doctors and specialists. We don’t talk about controlling guns, we talk about controlling symptoms. We don’t exchange insults over opinions, we exchange love and support.

I feel closer to many of these people than I do to members of my family. We may not have similar belief systems but what we have connects us in a deeper and more significant way. I may not understand their world views and that is okay because I do understand the challenges they are facing. We all have learned to accept the differences because the similarities we share are so much stronger. And it is that shared strength that helps bring us all through.