Well here goes: I am the third daughter of Eastern European Jews who survived the Holocaust & immigrated to Boston in 1950, where I was born. Freedom has always been very important, crucial somehow to my story. In 1968, at age 17, I went off to UNI in Western Massachusetts,. I loved school, loved learning. It was also when I was first introduced to Hatha yoga, which changed my life forever.

For more than 30 years, I have worked in the health and wellness field. Seeking vitality through fitness has been a passion of mine. My inspirations line up with PWP as there is a spiritedness in PD fighters that is not found in your everyday run-of the-mill individual.

Gerry and I met in 1975 at the Strathcona Hotel, Victoria, where I had just been hired as a server. Gerry was an employee there since 1968, and by the time I arrived, well established as being known as a character. He was the main bartender in Big Bad John's, the hillbilly bar known for it's outrageous comedy served with the drinks. Gerry, along with good friends who worked in there with him, set the theme where many of us were a bit afraid to drink in there

We met in 1964 while Rick was attending BCIT and Carolyn was at UBC. We were “set up” by Rick’s Aunt because the families attended the same church in Kitsilano in Vancouver. We dated for quite a while and Rick was working in northern BC so would commute to the big smoke to chase this innocent girl.

Q: How did you become a part of PWP/ParkinGo and how long have you been attending class?

I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s on November 18, 2008 while living in Calgary. At that time my husband Gil and I spent out winters in Phoenix. The following March, while in Phoenix, I met a women with Parkinson’s at my fitness class. She invited me to go to a Davis Phinney Victory Summit in Tucson. I knew very little about Parkinson’s at that time because ‘I had buried my head in the sand’ since my diagnosis. That day at the Victory Summit changed my life because I met Dr Becky Farley who is from Tucson and has a gym specifically for Parkinson’s there.

In this issue of the PWP Newsletter we present to you Sukhi Rai!

Sukhi is one of the original members (class participant and past board member) of PWP all the way back to when it was ParkinGo! Sukhi has lived with Parkinson's disease for nine years, and has navigated the ever changing nature of the disease with grace. Read below for some tips and tricks which help him swim this sea.

George was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease almost 22 years ago. He was an avid hiker and cyclist, and very health -conscious. The diagnosis was a total shock. For weeks, George stayed inside reading about Parkinson’s disease on the internet for hours at a time. He felt like he was losing a defining part of himself. “I was hiding at home, wishing it would all go away. But there was no escape,” says George. “I had to face reality and to do that, I knew I needed support.”

Q: How did you meet?

Carlea and Jim: Jim and I met 19 years ago on a blind date, set up by mutual friends. When we met, we knew it was meant to be as we both had the same goals and outlook on what we wanted in life and we were married a year later. Jim worked as a Transit driver for 31 years and I worked for the Provincial government for 36 years. Once retired, Jim bought himself a muscle car to restore and fix up, a dream that he has wanted to accomplish since he was young.