"Anxiety ???"

 

Hi friends, sorry it has taken so long to get you an update, but I couldn't  get access to my editing program for my website.  So now I  can tell you about my trip.

  

Now why ever, would someone that had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease 12 years ago, be apprehensive about driving a 27 year old Chevy van, (that was carrying everything he owned), 2800 miles across these United States. The trip would be from (almost) Los Angeles, to (almost) Washington D.C., & he would be the only driver for the entire way, all by himself?  I knew from the get go that if God wanted me to make this journey, I would get to my destination without a hitch.  But if it wasn't His idea for me to make this trip, I would soon be added to the list of homeless in Deming NM, or El Paso, TX.  The trouble was, I had no idea whose idea it, really, was!!  But I was determined to find out.

 

I have had a history of problems with anxiety, & depression.  It is thought that stress can contribute to the onset of Parkinson's Disease.  I can testify to how damaging stress can be to those who already have this disease.  If you have PD, you know what I am saying:  Trying to keep a failing relationship alive can be very Stressful. 

So, if you are in an uncomfortable relationship,  then I highly recommend one of 2 choices.  Either get out of your relationship, or find a cure for PD.  The 2 don't go well together, trust me!!  This was just  one of the reasons that I left Hemet.  I met a very nice lady, & we dated for, almost 6 months.  It was wonderful!!  We knew that we were soulmates, & even though she knew of my PD, she seemed to be ok with it.  But that soon changed.  With her anticipation of what might be a reality, "IF" my illness progressed, she made a choice to severe our relationship, rather than facing the possibility of becoming a caregiver.  That's ok though, if I had the opportunity drop & run from my PD, I might do, exactly, the same thing.  Well, my tremor returned, my anxiety level went off the scale, & suddenly I was again, alone.  Just me again, back to the reality of being sick.  It was great for a while (RA), thanks.  Being that we lived less than a mile apart, I thought it best if I left the area.  So I decided to take my son's offer to live with he, & his family, in Virginia.  So I had some repairs done to my Chevy van, & started planning how I would pack all of my belonging, & 3 trikes into my little van.  My kids wanted me to bring my 3 trikes so we could ride together in the spring.  I'm looking forward to that. 

I left California on Nov. 16th, & headed east.  I felt pretty good as I approached Tucson, but for health reasons, & the long drive that was still had in front of me, I waved good bye to Tucson, & kept driving.  I wanted to get as far as I could, before I got tired, so I kept driving, & (not including gas stops) drove all the way to Lordsburg, NM.  There, I found a $33.00 motel, so I decided  to get some, much needed sleep.  Afterwards, I went to the local truck stop to get breakfast.  The next leg of my journey would  take me to Odessa, TX. where I would stay with friends, & dine on Navajo Tacos.  I should have  stayed another, just to have another taco.  But I wasn't even halfway, yet.  So I pushed on.  It seemed to take longer to go from Odessa, to Texarkana, than it took to get me to Odessa.  Even with stopping to rest when needed, still, by the time I started over the mountains in Tennessee, I was getting tired.  On 2 different occasions I found it necessary to pull off the road,  & stop because my vision was impaired.  I was seeing a very narrow, one lane road, when fact was,  I was on an interstate highway.  So I would drive only in daylight hours.  With that, it took me 6 days to get to Virginia, but I got here!!