Why "Happy Birthday"?

I was eleven when my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. It was a terrifying time clouded with so much uncertainty. What did that even mean to be told you’re experiencing the early stages of Parkinson’s at the unlucky young age of forty-four years old? We didn’t know what was to come, it was a completely foreign concept to our family. As we’ve experienced in these past few years of the global pandemic, uncertainty mixed with fear can be a completely overwhelming and isolating experience. I much prefer conversation and community over worrying on an island of my own fabrication. How about you?

Since I’ve lived most of my life with Parkinson’s Disease on the forefront of my mind, I’ve found it surprising that there’s little representation of it in books and films and much talk in general of people afflicted with this disease. The more I openly talk about it, the more people I meet who have family members living and deceased who suffered from it. It feels that the general public claims to only know about it because of Michael J. Fox. My dad and I would talk about him frequently, he read all his books, loved his films and had such deep admiration of his foundation dedicated to finding a cure for this currently incurable disease. 

My dad passed away in 2019. He was an incredible man of such quiet strength and dry humor despite his deteriorating health and frustration in surrendering most of his independence. I made a number of promises to him of projects I wished to bring to life that were based on what I had seen and felt with every fiber of my body. 

This one’s for you, Papa. I love and miss you every day.