Now, I don’t want to sell MJF short, because he has certainly done a lot as an actor and as an advocate for Parkinson’s disease, but I am so impressed with him as a father and a husband. From my point of view (which isn’t necessarily close and personal) I’m impressed with the way he involves his family in the things that he is trying to do. I’ve seen his family do interviews with him and they all seem to rally around this cause of Parkinson’s disease. I wish more families did that together. It seems that the world seems to go about these things alone too much. When life changing diseases strike or when circumstances can be life changing many people try to make the new and difficult journey alone. Family is there to lean and depend upon.
Family has certainly been on my mind, partially because I just read a friends blog who wrote about that her family will never understand what Parkinson’s disease is, even if they researched it everyday all day–or that’s what I gathered she said. Lets face it how can family understand the depression caused by certain drugs that must be taken to quell tremors and shakes or how can family understand freezing up for small walk that took 1 hour instead of ten minutes, they can’t; but they can be an amazing support. I hope we understand how important family is during the difficult times with Parkinson’s disease (and even if we don’t have Parkinson’s disease) and that they are used much, much more. Although Michael J. Fox was given an honorary award for being an advocate for Parkinson’s disease, I’m sure he would be the first to to acknowledge that he shares that award with his family.
