The 5 Stages of Grief
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
I've had a fantastic time during my ski retreat in Breckenridge, CO at the BOEC. For anyone interested in attending or donating you can check them out http://www.boec.org/
Today, I finally learned to control the speed that came naturally to me. The previous two days were so fun and I'm sure fun to watch as I went end over end, bailing out and losing my skis. I didn't fall once today and I give all the thanks to my ski instructor Terrin! Actually, I consider this wonderful lady more of a friend now than merely an instructor.
Terrin & Me
It was pretty o.k. to be in the company of other parkies this week although I don't think anyone referred to themselves as a parkie, preferring instead the term -PWP (person with parkinson's). That's a little too politically correct for my taste and as you might be able to tell by now, I cannot take myself that seriously. My daughter asked if I was worried that a bunch of spazzes on the slope at the same time might cause an avalanche! Love that girl!
The other participants are for the most part a great group of people. Most of them are staying physically active and the very fact that they are here indicates that they are trying to hold onto normalcy and and do all that they can to get out there and enjoy life. It was a much more positive experience than the summit in Phoenix.
I had two great runs today. Didn't fall once! I wanted to end on a high note and I also wanted to hang out with Terrin. She wasn't her normal bubbly self and I could sense that she was out of sorts. From the start of the day, I relieved her of her duty to be a cheerleader. I was feeling a little nauseous from having to take a second dose of carb/lev without eating enough to cushion that nasty side effect. Perkiness wouldn't have been well received anyway.
As it turns out, we had a great day seeing the sites, going out to lunch and really getting to know one another. She's an amazing young woman who works with people with all sorts of disabilities as her vocation. She's called to do this kind of work and she's really good at it. Unfortunately, it doesn't exactly pay the bills and she works two other jobs besides.
I realize that I'm the odd duck. I suppose that any time you get a group like this together there's going to be formal sharing sessions. YUCK! If you read this, Terrin, I'm sorry. I know you were doing your job and REALLY, YOU DO IT WELL! You'll be running the place in no time. The other participants gained from the experience. I don't necessarily mind talking to people about "my condition" as my husband phrases it, but only if it's during the give and take of a natural discussion. One of the activities was to write a note of encouragement to yourself, seal it in an envelope to be opened at a later date. Oh please! I dated mine the 12th of Never. Then, we were to write a negative thought and divest ourselves of it by burning it over the gas stove top. Good grief!
Speaking of grief, there's the well known five stages proposed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. It's been pretty well debunked although we cling to the tidy idea that there's a procedure for grieving. There was a lot of talk about coming to terms with limitations and loss, being at peace with it and accepting it. You may categorize me in either the denial or anger stages and I don't care, but I say, "hell no!" I'm not going to ever be o.k. with not being able to ride a two wheel bike. It would be devastating to give up the keys to my car. I wouldn't ever accept not being able to continue working.
People talk about grief as if it's a process to get through. I don't want to. I have my days where I can be in any one of the stages but I don't ever want to get to the end which is acceptance. This isn't acceptable! I'm going to keep ticking things off my bucket list and adding more to it when I get to the end of the original 28. Skiing has a big check mark next to it! I leave for home tomorrow and I'm going to go to bed now to contemplate what will be the next item on my list.
Do you have a list??
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
I've had a fantastic time during my ski retreat in Breckenridge, CO at the BOEC. For anyone interested in attending or donating you can check them out http://www.boec.org/
Today, I finally learned to control the speed that came naturally to me. The previous two days were so fun and I'm sure fun to watch as I went end over end, bailing out and losing my skis. I didn't fall once today and I give all the thanks to my ski instructor Terrin! Actually, I consider this wonderful lady more of a friend now than merely an instructor.
 |
| Terrin & Me |
It was pretty o.k. to be in the company of other parkies this week although I don't think anyone referred to themselves as a parkie, preferring instead the term -PWP (person with parkinson's). That's a little too politically correct for my taste and as you might be able to tell by now, I cannot take myself that seriously. My daughter asked if I was worried that a bunch of spazzes on the slope at the same time might cause an avalanche! Love that girl!
The other participants are for the most part a great group of people. Most of them are staying physically active and the very fact that they are here indicates that they are trying to hold onto normalcy and and do all that they can to get out there and enjoy life. It was a much more positive experience than the summit in Phoenix.
I had two great runs today. Didn't fall once! I wanted to end on a high note and I also wanted to hang out with Terrin. She wasn't her normal bubbly self and I could sense that she was out of sorts. From the start of the day, I relieved her of her duty to be a cheerleader. I was feeling a little nauseous from having to take a second dose of carb/lev without eating enough to cushion that nasty side effect. Perkiness wouldn't have been well received anyway.
As it turns out, we had a great day seeing the sites, going out to lunch and really getting to know one another. She's an amazing young woman who works with people with all sorts of disabilities as her vocation. She's called to do this kind of work and she's really good at it. Unfortunately, it doesn't exactly pay the bills and she works two other jobs besides.
I realize that I'm the odd duck. I suppose that any time you get a group like this together there's going to be formal sharing sessions. YUCK! If you read this, Terrin, I'm sorry. I know you were doing your job and REALLY, YOU DO IT WELL! You'll be running the place in no time. The other participants gained from the experience. I don't necessarily mind talking to people about "my condition" as my husband phrases it, but only if it's during the give and take of a natural discussion. One of the activities was to write a note of encouragement to yourself, seal it in an envelope to be opened at a later date. Oh please! I dated mine the 12th of Never. Then, we were to write a negative thought and divest ourselves of it by burning it over the gas stove top. Good grief!
Speaking of grief, there's the well known five stages proposed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. It's been pretty well debunked although we cling to the tidy idea that there's a procedure for grieving. There was a lot of talk about coming to terms with limitations and loss, being at peace with it and accepting it. You may categorize me in either the denial or anger stages and I don't care, but I say, "hell no!" I'm not going to ever be o.k. with not being able to ride a two wheel bike. It would be devastating to give up the keys to my car. I wouldn't ever accept not being able to continue working.
People talk about grief as if it's a process to get through. I don't want to. I have my days where I can be in any one of the stages but I don't ever want to get to the end which is acceptance. This isn't acceptable! I'm going to keep ticking things off my bucket list and adding more to it when I get to the end of the original 28. Skiing has a big check mark next to it! I leave for home tomorrow and I'm going to go to bed now to contemplate what will be the next item on my list.
Do you have a list??
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