...sometimes carry their own rewards.
Yesterday, I rolled the bike up the highway about 80 miles and visited Tim White, a GSR member. His wife had auctioned a gauge set on e-bay, which I won. I got the necessary parts, and a bonus exhaust.
That made it a pretty good day, but it got better. Had to leave Tim and head back to a park west of Toronto, where I was to meet a man I had not seen for several years. He used to work with a company we dealt with, and left work due to Parkinson?s disease progression.
I used to help him get through a few days when his pain was intense. That was good for part of a day, but his life worsened as the disease progressed, and he had to retire.
A few weeks ago another employee at the company said Oswald was taking part in a ?Walk for Parkinson?s? and was asking for pledges. Apparently he had been doing it for several years.
I gave her some money, and asked her to tell Oswald I would be there when the walk started, to give hin a boost.
Yesterday, I waited at the registry desk for him to show up. Some people were obviously determined to get through the day, and it seemed many of them were also suffering from the disease. Oswald was quite surprised to see me at the registry desk, but also quite pleased. We went off to a bench, where I met his family for the first time, while giving him his ?boost? for the walk.
Ah, well...I am here......why not go along with him..?
There are two walks, one for those who are not doing too well, of 2 kilometre distance, and a longer one of 8 km for those in better shape..
A bit of exercise for the group, promoted by a fitness guru, then off we went.
This was a whole new experience for me. I knew of what Oswald had been going through, from having seen it in the office, but not what happened to him in the several years since then.
The muscle spasms and odd-looking movements he says happen frequently had stopped while we were at the bench, and he walked right along with me, at a good pace. A short distance out there was a split in the paths, with a man holding a sign, and saying the short walk is behind him, and the long walk down the slope and to the left.
We went down the slope, and along the path, talking as we went.
The pace slowed, as the strain caught up to Oswald, and we stopped for a rest. Another pain treatment, and we continued on.. Another rest, and another, but we were almost half-way through. He was having a rough time, so we walked back a bit where a bench was waiting, and had a drink of water. His family, (wife, two daughters and their husband and boyfriend) were returning.
He decided it was time to return, so, another treatment, and we headed back, behind the family.
No rests on his part, until we came back to the rise between the paths. He climbed the stairs, saying this was easier than the slope. At the top we came to the original path, and met a man and his wife who were still working on the return trip from the 2km walk. He is in a later stage than Oswald, and can barely move, needing the help of a walker to support him, while dragging one foot forward on the toes a few inches, then the other. V E R Y determined.
As we went past the man, and his wife, Oswald told me this is how he oftends himself.....the upper body works fairly well, but his feet often feel like there were magnets under him, and his feet won't respond. He also said that he usually does only the short walk, as the pain is too great, and in the other years he had trouble doing the 2 kilometres.
Oswald had never seen the GK, and wanted to see what it looked like. He used to ride a 150cc in India, and carried his family on it! The biggest machine he had ever driven was 200cc, many years before. He said riding even a bicycle now was out of the question, due to his balance failures, which I had seen while walking..
We walked the extra distance to the parking lot, and he climbed aboard the bike. Sitting on the GK was an experience in size, as this was the first big bike he had sat on. I had no spare helmet, so a ride was not possible, but his smile showed he was happy with just getting aboard. .
I got a phone call this morning, at the office. Oswald had called Anne, and said he had never been more pleased than he had been to have me with him yesterday.
Apparently he had been experiencing problems before getting to the event, and was concerned as to whether he could do it, even though he was planning to do the short walk. This was no little concern, as he had been preparing for this walk for months, and it is a major event in his year.
The good part....including the extra trip to see the GK, Oswald had managed to walk with me for the full distance of the long walk, and a bit more.....more than 7km, close to 8.
This was more than three times the distance he had been able to do in other years, and he did it well. He is SO proud of that.
I am proud too.....of Oswald, and his very great courage.
Yesterday, I rolled the bike up the highway about 80 miles and visited Tim White, a GSR member. His wife had auctioned a gauge set on e-bay, which I won. I got the necessary parts, and a bonus exhaust.
That made it a pretty good day, but it got better. Had to leave Tim and head back to a park west of Toronto, where I was to meet a man I had not seen for several years. He used to work with a company we dealt with, and left work due to Parkinson?s disease progression.
I used to help him get through a few days when his pain was intense. That was good for part of a day, but his life worsened as the disease progressed, and he had to retire.
A few weeks ago another employee at the company said Oswald was taking part in a ?Walk for Parkinson?s? and was asking for pledges. Apparently he had been doing it for several years.
I gave her some money, and asked her to tell Oswald I would be there when the walk started, to give hin a boost.
Yesterday, I waited at the registry desk for him to show up. Some people were obviously determined to get through the day, and it seemed many of them were also suffering from the disease. Oswald was quite surprised to see me at the registry desk, but also quite pleased. We went off to a bench, where I met his family for the first time, while giving him his ?boost? for the walk.
Ah, well...I am here......why not go along with him..?
There are two walks, one for those who are not doing too well, of 2 kilometre distance, and a longer one of 8 km for those in better shape..
A bit of exercise for the group, promoted by a fitness guru, then off we went.
This was a whole new experience for me. I knew of what Oswald had been going through, from having seen it in the office, but not what happened to him in the several years since then.
The muscle spasms and odd-looking movements he says happen frequently had stopped while we were at the bench, and he walked right along with me, at a good pace. A short distance out there was a split in the paths, with a man holding a sign, and saying the short walk is behind him, and the long walk down the slope and to the left.
We went down the slope, and along the path, talking as we went.
The pace slowed, as the strain caught up to Oswald, and we stopped for a rest. Another pain treatment, and we continued on.. Another rest, and another, but we were almost half-way through. He was having a rough time, so we walked back a bit where a bench was waiting, and had a drink of water. His family, (wife, two daughters and their husband and boyfriend) were returning.
He decided it was time to return, so, another treatment, and we headed back, behind the family.
No rests on his part, until we came back to the rise between the paths. He climbed the stairs, saying this was easier than the slope. At the top we came to the original path, and met a man and his wife who were still working on the return trip from the 2km walk. He is in a later stage than Oswald, and can barely move, needing the help of a walker to support him, while dragging one foot forward on the toes a few inches, then the other. V E R Y determined.
As we went past the man, and his wife, Oswald told me this is how he oftends himself.....the upper body works fairly well, but his feet often feel like there were magnets under him, and his feet won't respond. He also said that he usually does only the short walk, as the pain is too great, and in the other years he had trouble doing the 2 kilometres.
Oswald had never seen the GK, and wanted to see what it looked like. He used to ride a 150cc in India, and carried his family on it! The biggest machine he had ever driven was 200cc, many years before. He said riding even a bicycle now was out of the question, due to his balance failures, which I had seen while walking..
We walked the extra distance to the parking lot, and he climbed aboard the bike. Sitting on the GK was an experience in size, as this was the first big bike he had sat on. I had no spare helmet, so a ride was not possible, but his smile showed he was happy with just getting aboard. .
I got a phone call this morning, at the office. Oswald had called Anne, and said he had never been more pleased than he had been to have me with him yesterday.
Apparently he had been experiencing problems before getting to the event, and was concerned as to whether he could do it, even though he was planning to do the short walk. This was no little concern, as he had been preparing for this walk for months, and it is a major event in his year.
The good part....including the extra trip to see the GK, Oswald had managed to walk with me for the full distance of the long walk, and a bit more.....more than 7km, close to 8.
This was more than three times the distance he had been able to do in other years, and he did it well. He is SO proud of that.
I am proud too.....of Oswald, and his very great courage.
