Parkinson's changes life. It's still life.
For me, chocolate is a food group. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 23. Copyright 2017 Food has always been my drug of choice. I have an addiction, and I have to treat my compulsive overeating as I would treat an addiction to anything else. I avoid trigger-rich environments. For example, I don't go … Continue reading Hi, I’m Teresa, and I am a compulsive overeater
My Honey is My Love, and I say so. Photo by Sarah Farrell of Magic Circle Studios By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 22. Copyright 2017 I grew up in a family that didn't say I love you. Occasionally, I'd hear it when someone said goodbye. Hugging was the same way, reserved for special … Continue reading To you with love
I loved Mother dearly, and I am sorry about the lies I told her -- some of the lies I told her. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 21. Copyright 2017 I lied to my mother. I lied about who ate the chocolate ice cream, hiding my plastic bowl in the floor of … Continue reading I lied to my mother
Image from The Accessible Icon Project By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 20. Copyright 2017 When we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch today, I went to the bathroom right after ordering. Anybody who knows me well knows that I always go before a meal, before I leave the restaurant, and pretty … Continue reading Practical Parkinson’s
Snapple caps are the source of many dinnertime conversation hypertexts. I never know where my mind will go next. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 19. Copyright 2017 Me (reading a Snapple cap "real fact"): Tennessee's state animal is the raccoon. My Honey: I wonder what Georgia's state animal is. The Boy: I remember Maine's … Continue reading Hypertext Theater
Now I'm a night owl. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 18. Copyright 2017 When I was little and fell asleep at some relative's house, I would wake up in a bed piled up with brothers, cousins, and kids I wasn't sure were cousins. I knew that at some point, I had simply toppled … Continue reading Parkinson’s Ninja
Sometimes challenges can pile up when we're not looking. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 17. Copyright 2017 It wasn't sustainable. The miracle, I mean. Wellness. My zeal for wellness. When I was diagnosed with Parkinson's two years and four months ago, my neurologist told me that in two to five years, we would … Continue reading A Dose of Reality
Perfectionism is not all it's cracked up to be. I admire imperfection. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 16. Copyright 2017 There is something wrong with perfection. I wrote this sentence a few years ago as a discussion topic for honors students in their first year of college. I've grown to believe it … Continue reading A Perfect Storm
Cooper's Rock in West Virginia is challenging. At this point, I can't get to the top. By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 15. Copyright 2017 I can't. When I was 20, I didn't know the meaning of that phrase. The posters hanging in my dorm room at Concord College urged me to keep … Continue reading I can’t
By Teresa Swartz Roberts Blog post 14. Copyright 2017 Image from The Accessible Icon Project I was watching "Dancing With the Stars" last night and said out loud what I've thought so many times before when people with disabilities or physical challenges were on the show: Why is it that the 20-year-old Olympic gold … Continue reading It’s time we started thinking about disability
Life through the Lens of Parkinson's 