Living Well with Parkinsons Disease
Dancing in the Rain: Lessons Learned on my Personal Journey with PD (more at www.PDPlan4Life.com) Copyright 2013-20 Sheryl Jedlinski
Invest in Love
My husband, Tony, and I recently combined the formal honeymoon we never had with a private celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary. The inspirational red rocks of Sedona, Arizona, provided the perfect backdrop for sharing a lifetime of “remember whens” — the good far outweighing the bad — and affirming our hopes and dreams for the shared tomorrows yet to come.
We no longer take for granted good health, nor the freedom it brings to do what we want, when we want on a moment’s notice. We have experienced firsthand how quickly good health can be taken from us, so we work at living in the here and now, rather than wasting time and energy preparing for losses we may never know. It is the little losses that cut deepest we found when I became dependent on walking aids that make holding hands virtually impossible.
Married over Thanksgiving weekend of our senior year in college, we gave up a honeymoon for final exams, and used this “sacrifice” to justify every subsequent vacation we did take, starting with a spring break road trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. All I remember is that the toilet in our motel room ran all night. The manager told us we were lucky not to be sleeping in our car, as our room was the last available for 50 miles around. Capping off our trip, we drove back to Chicago during an April Fools Day blizzard. That was a “remember when.”
Most of the people we met on our belated honeymoon were surprised to learn that we were celebrating our 40th anniversary. They told us we looked far too young, which jived with Tony’s memories of only “very, very old” customers buying 40th anniversary plaques from his parents’ gift shop. People congratulated us as if we had accomplished a major feat. They wanted to know our secret. I never really gave it much thought. Perhaps it is as simple as heeding my grandmother’s guidance to “never go to bed angry.”
Or, maybe it is about applying architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision of beauty to love:
“If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.”
15 comments on “Invest in Love”
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Read more of Sheryl’s humorous stories and helpful tips at PDPlan4Life.com
Living Well with Parkinsons Disease 
Congratulations Sheryl and Tony. The two of you have always shown me that love can work! You are so special!
If you are around over the holidays maybe we can meet? Xoxo
Thank you, Jen. We will definitely be home, so let me know what works for you and we will get together.
This is awesome! I hope it reaches more people than who usually read your posts….like, I will be forwarding it….I think, hope, people feel the things you wrote, but do not know how, or perhaps are embarrassed for whatever reason, to articulate the feelings you expressed….this is really great…but, I love everything you write….see you shortly…tem
Thank you for always being so supportive of me and going many extra miles to help me in any way you can.
I couldn’t say it more beautifully than Tem did; you two rock!
beautiful, and really how lucky you are!
What a beautiful and true message Sheryl!! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!!
You have a way with words. They fit so seamlessly together. The story behind it all is so true; not really a story, but the way you choose to look at life, love and marriage. Adding, not taking anything for granted, it makes a great recipe to live your life.
Thank you, Cathy. I am really looking forward to working with you again.
Happy anniversary to a truly beautiful couple!
Thank you Wanda. Great to hear from you. Hope all is well.
Happy anniversary to you and Tony, what a beautiful message. You have an amazing gift of sharing your written words in such a lovely way. Thank you!!
Thank you, Sue. So good to hear from you. Hope everyone there is doing well.
Sheryl,Though I haven’t personally met you and know of your good work from Jean I have to add my god wishes to Tony and yourself on tge mie stone of 40 yrs married.
In these days of living together for period of time then getting married or not asthe kids come along and a divorce follows in too many cases 40 yrs is a milestones worth cerebrating.
Your advice about never going to bed not talking is sound advice. We have practiced this for 51 yrs and it works!! Best wishes for 2015 John and Becky Silk
Thank you John for your kind words, and congratulations to you on passing the half century mark with your wife.Nothing tests a marriage like a progressive, incurable illness. As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”