It’s easy for me to get overwhelmed and then every little comment seems to be negative. I had a few of those conversations recently and I know I reacted inappropriately, letting my emotions get involved. First, let me share an interaction I had with my husband that made me shake my head. We were discussing trading cars when my husband turned to me and asked, “how much longer do you think you’ll be driving?” I was flabbergasted. I reminded him that I am a bit younger than him, I don’t have Parkinson’s, and am not having any difficulty driving, why would I be thinking of giving it up? I can smile about it now, but in the moment, I had to walk away to keep from grumping at him. I definitely overreacted.

Now, on to another comment that I could have handled differently. A representative from our long term care insurer calls once a year to check in and make sure that the coverage is still needed. It struck me as odd when the woman asked if he had recovered or if he still needed assistance. I answered all of her questions but after I hung up, I felt angry because she should understand someone with PD is not going to get better nor are his needs going to get less. Again my emotional reaction was more than the situation called for.

I realize that if I stop and consider where these comments are coming from, they really wouldn’t upset me at all. My husband was remembering when we had this conversation regarding his ability to drive. He didn’t mean anything negative, he simply wondered where I was on this spectrum. On the other hand, the young woman from the insurance company was doing her job. She has a script to follow and would have asked me the same questions regardless of her knowledge of his PD diagnosis. Hopefully the next time this comes up I will take a breath and smile, not bristle at their words. There are enough valid things happening to upset my days, I don’t need to take on any extras.