@bmfoster Thank you so much. I very much appreciate it. Given my career, I knew a lot about neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s, but professional knowledge is very different from personal experience. I also worked a lot with caregivers who were experiencing significant stress, etc. Going through it yourself it’s quite a different matter. So, I find myself in the position of having to follow my own advice! Which I am managing to do most of the time. I recently did a four day R&R at a meditation and yoga center which restored me. I take frequent breaks during the day and pay attention most of the time to the basics: nutrition, rest, and exercise. I do think that the optimism that is often characteristic of Parkinson’s groups and websitesmay be a bit of a disservice. Presenting the positive side is important but incomplete. It is also difficult, frustrating, infuriating, and depleting, and there is no way completely around that. At best we can muddle through and that is and has to be enough. Not presenting the realities of either being a patient or caregiver is disrespectful and can be harmful to both. I’ve talked to caregivers and patients who see some of these otherwise very helpful websites and wonder if they’re doing something wrong because they don’t feel great about what they’re going through. I think we have to acknowledge the frustration, difficulty, demands, anger, resentment, and sometimes a touch of self pity that most people go through when dealing with a chronic progressive degenerative illness. I think it’s important to tell people it’s really OK to be pissed off and upset and sad and grieving. It is a part of the experience that can’t be ignored. That’s my two cents anyway.