I have been struggling with how to write about something really special that I was privileged to experience at the YOPN Conference that I attended in early Aug 2008. I say ‘struggle with how to present this’ because I am not sure I could ever describe how overwhelmingly powerful it was to me. I was witness to a most wonderful event….one in which a young onset Parkinson’s patient reclaimed something that PD had taken from her.
The person I am referring to is Kari, an online friend I had met through the Patients Like Me website. She was diagnosed earlier this year with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 31. I told her how great the YOPN Conferences were (and I was drawing from an experience from 2006). To my surprise she said, “I’ve gotten a scholarship to go!” to which I responded, “Let’s share a room!”
Kari said “OK”.
The excitement and planning built from that time until we finally met in Atlanta on Aug 7, 2008. Then the fun of being together in person took hold and definitely made the weekend special in just that respect.
As part of our planning, I had asked if each person in our room would lead a devotional while we were going to be in Atlanta. All of the ladies said they would. It was then I first heard about Kari’s ability to do sign language. She told me she had been signing to praise songs at her church until December of 2007, when the Parkinson’s symptoms made it too hard for her to do. She eluded to how special this talent was to her own worship experience, but I would not completely know how much it meant to her until the night of Aug 8, 2008.
Kari and I had gone up to our room early in the evening of the entertainment because Kari was not feeling real well and the food for supper had not appealed to either of us. When Becci got back to our room, we decided we would have our first devotional, and Becci presented it and did a wonderful job. She explained to us that she felt God had put her in her circumstance at this point in life to help minister to others. She also told how she was not going to let Parkinson’s define her life or confine her from doing what God wanted her to do. Shortly after Becci concluded, Kari asked to borrow my headphones and she listened to some music on her computer and made some abbreviated hand motions for a few minutes. She then turned and told us that she thought she might be able to do signing to a song, but asked if we would we understand if she started and could not finish.
Becci and I both told her we understood and waited expectantly. Kari held her hand in midair for more than a few seconds, took a deep breath, and started the music by pushing the mouse pad. She then sat in a chair in our hotel room in the Omni in downtown Atlanta, closed her eyes and signed the words to a Christian song “Never Let Go” in the most worshipful manner I had ever seen. It was awesome…it was as if she had taken back something that Parkinson’s disease had temporarily taken.
At that moment, I think Becci and I realized why Kari had said it was so special to her. It was her act of worship to her Lord, and we were able to enjoy and rejoice with her when she was finished. We were so excited and in such awe, we asked her to do another one and she did. She even smiled a few times while she signed the second one.
We stayed up way too late that night, but it was just a time we didn’t want to end. We had experienced something special together, and kept talking and laughing for several more hours. I thought I was going to Atlanta to learn more about dealing with Parkinson’s from a program set up months in advance. I did take away a few things from the program during the day and a half I was there, but I will never forget learning something very special in a room with two friends with Parkinson’s, who just wanted to uplift one another. I saw that the human spirit, in tune with God’s, can do more than what we can ever imagine.
Thank you, Kari …for sharing your very special gift with me that night. My heart will always recall how special it was to praise God through our weakness, obedience, and encouragement! His strength will overcome any obstacle in our way if we just give it all to him! Phil 4:13
Judy
http://psalm63-4.blogspot.com/2008/08/coming-back-to-life.html
http://dailystrength.org/people/3737/journal/1246827
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Kari, and Judy,
Just re-reading this piece brought the memories flooding back, along with that incredible feeling we experienced when Kari began to sign. Thanks for the memories!
Becci