Poem: A Name is a Name is a Name...

[EDWARDM1 <EDWARDM1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thought some of you might enjoy this poem written by a special friend
who has PD --
                Nancy McCaffrey


A Name is a Name is a Name...
        A Parkinson's Dilemma

"What's in a name," said Juliet,
        Her teenage hormones raging,
Could not resist young Romeo,
        She found him so engaging.

No matter what they call us,
        The symptoms are the same.
One name or the other
        All part of the PD game.

Parkinsonian? Too stately,
        Like a classic institution.
A museum or a theater,
        A form of evolution.

There's Parky, much too cutesy,
        Makes us sound like we're a joke,
Not appropriate in any way
        For gray haired elder folk.

PWP sounds dignified,
        Nobody can abuse it.
But I'm tired of having to explain
        Each time I try to use it.

Patient, victim, sufferer?
        Terms thrown around with ease,
But rather on the gloomy side,
        Smack too much of disease.

But no matter what you call us
        One thing stands out, I am sure
You can call us ASAP
        When you come up with a cure.

                     by Margaret F. Moylan
                        (with a special thanks to
                         Barb Frick for verse #2)