A Pool For Her Parkinson's
Donation protected
I’ve been praying about this for three days now; praying that God will give me the words for this, because it's SO important to me. I’m ready to tell you what I’m asking for this year, for my 40th birthday. And, no, it’s NOT oils. In fact, I don’t want to open even one present come May 3rd, even though I’m usually all about that, birthday brat that I am. ;) Instead, I want to donate my birthday to my sister, Bridget, who I posted about last week.
I remember her own 40th. We threw her a pool party with some girlfriends, and the décor had a watermelon theme. That was almost 14 years ago, and before her Parkinson’s diagnosis. She had a round above-ground pool back then. Chuck took the kids somewhere and we ladies swam and visited the weekend away. She loved being in the water, even then. Swimming was for her enjoyment at that point, but now it’s for so much more. Doctor-recommended, in fact.
On her 40th birthday, she didn’t have an incurable disease, or maybe she did, but the symptoms wouldn’t come until the following year, and the diagnosis the year after that.
I read an article titled “swimming away from Parkinson’s” recently, in which a man writes of his wife, her Parkinson’s Disease and their time in the pool, “where I watch my wife effortlessly push through water, where her illness can not live.” He ends the article with “When my wife swims, she becomes the person she was before her illness.” It made me cry, reading that. I know Chuck could say the same of Bridget when she swims. But, Bridget no longer has a pool.
The one she had for her 40th birthday was replaced a few years later with an in-ground one. But, some years after Parkinson’s came into her life, she could no longer work, and despite all attempts (even getting an advocate) she somehow doesn’t qualify for disability. If you spent any time with her at all, that fact would baffle your brain, because she is amazing but she absolutely has a debilitating, generative disease.
But, as she told me last month and as I posted about on Facebook last week, she is blessed. Just as their last child graduated and left the house with that backyard pool, the Lord opened a new door in the form of a small, more affordable fixer-upper a few towns over. They moved into that house in Twentynine Palms last fall. It’s perfect for her and Chuck… but how I wish she could have a pool again, even if just an above ground, rectangular one.
Exercise is so important for Parkinson’s patients. It doesn’t stop the disease, but it does improve balance and can prevent joint stiffening. Water exercise, specifically swimming laps and doing water aerobics, is ideal for Parkinson’s patients since it’s easier on the joints and requires less balance. Bridget’s joints have been hurting a lot lately, especially her hip. I’d give anything for her to be able to have a backyard pool again.
So, that’s what I really, really want for my 40th birthday. I want my sister to be able to wake up and walk into her backyard and get into a pool. Hers is the perfect yard for it, large enough and also sloped in a way that would allow Chuck and his buddies to install the pool against the slope just so, or maybe build a little deck from slope to pool, so that Bridget won’t have to climb the wobbly ladder that comes with above-ground pools (very important with a disease that affects balance the way this does, especially a dozen years post-diagnosis).
Bridget doesn’t know about this yet. I haven’t told her, because I’m afraid she’d be embarrassed by me asking for something on her behalf, because that’s how she is. She’ll do so much for others, but doesn’t want to put anyone out (gets that from our mother). But, even if she gets upset with me for this, I know it’ll be temporary. I’ll be forgiven the second she gets in her pool for her first therapeutic swim. And, in Twentynine Palms, California, this pool will likely be useable ten months out of the year (no joke). It’d be such a blessing to Bridget, and raising the money for this would make me the happiest 40 year old in all the land.
I told Carl and my mom to give to this fund instead of buying me gifts this year. Would you join them? Even if we don’t usually exchange birthday gifts, could you please consider donating to this if you’re able, and sharing this campaign?
Thank you! I’m praying this works out, this little dream in my heart, and that before long Chuck will be able to text me a pic of Bridget, backyard swimming again, maybe with the words “When my wife swims, she becomes the person she was before her illness.”
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I wish I had a photo of Bridget swimming to accompany this post. If I locate one, I'll add it.
This is Parkinson's Disease Awareness month, by the way, which spurred by original post about Bridget last week, which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210546597915536&set=a.1233782479043.2033225.1063596735&type=3&theater
Thank you for your support!
I remember her own 40th. We threw her a pool party with some girlfriends, and the décor had a watermelon theme. That was almost 14 years ago, and before her Parkinson’s diagnosis. She had a round above-ground pool back then. Chuck took the kids somewhere and we ladies swam and visited the weekend away. She loved being in the water, even then. Swimming was for her enjoyment at that point, but now it’s for so much more. Doctor-recommended, in fact.
On her 40th birthday, she didn’t have an incurable disease, or maybe she did, but the symptoms wouldn’t come until the following year, and the diagnosis the year after that.
I read an article titled “swimming away from Parkinson’s” recently, in which a man writes of his wife, her Parkinson’s Disease and their time in the pool, “where I watch my wife effortlessly push through water, where her illness can not live.” He ends the article with “When my wife swims, she becomes the person she was before her illness.” It made me cry, reading that. I know Chuck could say the same of Bridget when she swims. But, Bridget no longer has a pool.
The one she had for her 40th birthday was replaced a few years later with an in-ground one. But, some years after Parkinson’s came into her life, she could no longer work, and despite all attempts (even getting an advocate) she somehow doesn’t qualify for disability. If you spent any time with her at all, that fact would baffle your brain, because she is amazing but she absolutely has a debilitating, generative disease.
But, as she told me last month and as I posted about on Facebook last week, she is blessed. Just as their last child graduated and left the house with that backyard pool, the Lord opened a new door in the form of a small, more affordable fixer-upper a few towns over. They moved into that house in Twentynine Palms last fall. It’s perfect for her and Chuck… but how I wish she could have a pool again, even if just an above ground, rectangular one.
Exercise is so important for Parkinson’s patients. It doesn’t stop the disease, but it does improve balance and can prevent joint stiffening. Water exercise, specifically swimming laps and doing water aerobics, is ideal for Parkinson’s patients since it’s easier on the joints and requires less balance. Bridget’s joints have been hurting a lot lately, especially her hip. I’d give anything for her to be able to have a backyard pool again.
So, that’s what I really, really want for my 40th birthday. I want my sister to be able to wake up and walk into her backyard and get into a pool. Hers is the perfect yard for it, large enough and also sloped in a way that would allow Chuck and his buddies to install the pool against the slope just so, or maybe build a little deck from slope to pool, so that Bridget won’t have to climb the wobbly ladder that comes with above-ground pools (very important with a disease that affects balance the way this does, especially a dozen years post-diagnosis).
Bridget doesn’t know about this yet. I haven’t told her, because I’m afraid she’d be embarrassed by me asking for something on her behalf, because that’s how she is. She’ll do so much for others, but doesn’t want to put anyone out (gets that from our mother). But, even if she gets upset with me for this, I know it’ll be temporary. I’ll be forgiven the second she gets in her pool for her first therapeutic swim. And, in Twentynine Palms, California, this pool will likely be useable ten months out of the year (no joke). It’d be such a blessing to Bridget, and raising the money for this would make me the happiest 40 year old in all the land.
I told Carl and my mom to give to this fund instead of buying me gifts this year. Would you join them? Even if we don’t usually exchange birthday gifts, could you please consider donating to this if you’re able, and sharing this campaign?
Thank you! I’m praying this works out, this little dream in my heart, and that before long Chuck will be able to text me a pic of Bridget, backyard swimming again, maybe with the words “When my wife swims, she becomes the person she was before her illness.”
---------
I wish I had a photo of Bridget swimming to accompany this post. If I locate one, I'll add it.
This is Parkinson's Disease Awareness month, by the way, which spurred by original post about Bridget last week, which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210546597915536&set=a.1233782479043.2033225.1063596735&type=3&theater
Thank you for your support!
Organizer and beneficiary
Beth Sandoz Vogel
Organizer
Twentynine Palms, CA
Bridget Wilcox
Beneficiary