Lately, I could not be more overjoyed. My reason for this? The ALS ice bucket challenge. The deal is suppose to be you either dump ice water on yourself and nominate others to spread awareness..or donate….or both! This has truly warmed my heart because ALS, (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Parkinson’s both run in my family;my Great Aunt died of ALS. They are labeled as sister diseases because of how similar they are. As of August 24, the ALS Association has received $70.2 million dollars toward finding a cure.

When I told my Dad about this, an automatic smile on his face appeared. The moral of what I’m trying to say is that anyone who participated in the ice bucket challenge or donated money is making more of a difference than you’ll ever know. Watching my Dad suffer from a similar disease and then watching all this support from the public and my peers makes me ecstatic.

My Dad was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease when I was in the 8th grade, so I have a pretty good idea of what it’s like to have it, yet I can’t begin to explain how it actually feels. For a brief description of what the disease actually is, it’s a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking (tremors) and difficulty with walking, moving, and coordination. From the time he was diagnosed to  now, he’s definitely a changed man. One of the most recent struggles with my Dad is how he communicates with others.

Whenever I go out in public with him, I’m just glad he’s getting out of the house. But when it comes to standing in line at the grocery store for instance, that’s when it’s hard for him to forget he’s different.  My Dad is the comedian in our home… if you give him the chance he can crack anyone up no matter what their preferable style of humour is. But the public eye doesn’t know that parkinson’s has affected his speech so it can sometimes be hard to understand him. Of course my mom and I are used to the way he sounds, so we can make it out, but for others it’s tricky, which makes sense.

So we finally make it up to the cashier. The lady asks what the weathers like outside at the moment. He’ll say its a little too hot to bare. After him repeating it a good three times I finally include myself in the temporary conversation to say what he actually said.

Through the years he hasn’t been the same funny outgoing guy in public since they aren’t used to how he talks, but as long as he keeps his humour around my mom and I and can still find humour in everyday life, thats fine with me. Every day has it’s struggles and advances that could change like the weather, but that’s what comes with harsh diseases. People change and it’s out of your hands. All I can do is tell of his weaknesses and strong points, and give my utmost respect to anyone who did that ALS challenge. Whether you did it for fun or actually for the cause…thank you.