It was ten years ago that I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It was also ten years ago that I first heard about the Camino de Santiago. I am thrilled that my good friend, Claire, will be joining me to fulfil my dream of walking this ancient pilgrimage route in Northern Spain. We depart May 15, 2010.
Having decided to walk the Camino, we realized that there is a challenge much greater than walking 20 km a day for 40 days. People living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) face challenges affecting their quality of life every day.

PD is a progressive, neurological disease affecting more than 100,000 Canadians. People with Parkinson’s have difficulty with voluntary muscle control, exhibiting such symptoms as: slowness of movement, tremors, stiffness, postural instability and difficulty walking. There may also be non-motor symptoms such as depression, decreased memory and cognitive difficulties. Many of these symptoms may be successfully managed with medications but a cure has not yet been found.

We decided to address these challenges by teaming up with Parkinson Society Ottawa (PSO). As a regional partner of Parkinson Society Canada, PSO serves more than 8000 people in Eastern Ontario – both those with PD and their care partners – offering support and education to Ease the Burden and funding research and advocacy work to Find a Cure.

Partnering with PSO, we have set a goal of raising $8000. That means $10.00 for every kilometre we walk or $1.00 for every person served by PSO! Please consider being part of the team. You can keep us in your thoughts and prayers, spread the word about Parkinson’s disease, or kindly make a donation to PSO.

You may make your donation by going to www.parkinsons.ca ; follow the link “How you can help” and click on “Tribute Donation” and put in one of our names. Your gift will support people like me living with Parkinson’s today and will give us hope for the future.

Thank you for being part of the team that is working to ease the burden and find a cure.

Alice

I too am looking forward to walking the Camino with my good friend Alice. Alice and I have a long history of hiking and adventure. Alice introduced me to backpacking many years ago and we subsequently spent a lot of time on trails, both hiking and cross country skiing. We’ve hiked out west, on the Bruce Trail; climbed Mt. Washington and hiked hut to hut on the Appalachian Trail. We skied just about every park with trails in the Toronto area as well as in Algonquin Park, including weekend adventures that involved sleeping in a tent or building a snow cave. But all of that was more than 20 years ago! How time flies!

We subsequently both got married, schedules changed and it was harder to fit in those kinds of adventures. Alice ended up in Ottawa while I stayed in Toronto. We have managed to maintain an annual ski in the Gatineau along with skating on the canal in Ottawa, usually as part of Winterlude. And, more recently we’ve enjoyed annual cycling weekends in various places – there are lovely trails in Ontario and Quebec!

So, perhaps we’re trying to resurrect out youth, with yet another (perhaps crazy) adventure that requires lots of research, planning and preparation… we’ve done all of those. Or maybe we’re trying to prove we can still meet this kind of a challenge, in spite of both having dealt with cancer and now Parkinson’s for Alice. Or maybe it’s just that the Camino is beckoning, calling us to further explore the gifts of love and life - a long-time friendship, the wonderful support and encouragement of our spouses and a life-long relationship with the Giver of Life and Love.

So, we’re up for it! We’ve prepared as best we can, recognizing that there are lots of unknowns – Where will we stay? What will the weather be like? Will our packs be too heavy? Can we avoid blisters? What about language? - but that’s the adventure. We’ll post notes on this blog from time to time to let folks know how we’re doing.

Thanks for your interest!

Claire