not the best of times....2020

I have struggled as to whether or not to write this blog.  It is because so many   people I want  to remember are no  longer here on this earth and many of them died in the last year.

Of course the year 2020 is not over yet.  I did go and vote in early voting to try and change the course of catastrophes and bungles by  the government that it is almost sickening.  On top of it all you don't know know who to believe ...so many things taken out of context at the result of riots and bigotry and senseless destruction of  property and the loss of peoples lives.   Who would have thought it would happen in the good old USA. 

The media says people are tired of wearing masks to try and make a dent in the number of lives affected by  a virus that came to be and spread all over the earth in just a  few months.  They call it COVID19.  The page at the cdc.org tells you how they name these things that can make you deathly sick

None of the people that I know below died from  the virus .   And I hope many of you  only lost the chance to get some toilet paper during 2020. 

There is no way to rank these whose lives were full and made an impact on mime and we are now left to carry-on without them:

James Good, my Dad passed away aug 22, 2020.  He is remembered for the many good things he did along the way.  And two of his and mom's life-long friends passed this year as well.  I also have had a couple of friends with Parkinson's disease who passed on.  There are more buut just know that we may appreciate more a gathering of family and friends to give thanks.  I hope you and yours find a way to be together for Thanksgiving and that you all stay safe.  

  Here is a prayer I wrote for Thanksgiving 2020

A few days before Thanksgiving 2020:

Dear God,

 It is going to be a hard one this year.  Thanksgiving...that is.  How do we be thankful when someone

we love deeply is not here to join us?.  When even our most desperate pleas to you seem to go

unnoticed. 

But we are never comfortable in our own skin and want to be like you always thinking of ourselves aren’t

we? That is not how and why you made us..But we are scared, God, because we don’t feel in control,

and then we ask “why?” because we just think we can handle the answer.  Sometimes we don’t

hear you shouting in our not ears “so you can know that I am for you” 

 It is kind of ironic that all the spread of a virus named Covid 19 has killed so many.  Covid-19 was

named with the 19 at the end to designate the year it killed people in adjacent countries,  )what a

pandemic is known for as well.   Covid -19 was named on the last day of 2019.This 2020. 

People all over the world are tired of wearing a mask to cover our mouths and waiting on

a vaccine (we are an impatient people are we not?)   

 When you are examined by an eye doctor, if you have 20/20 vision you do not need to

have glasses with lens correction to get you to have 20/20 vision.  Lord, help us see

through your lens and light. So that we can see those who stand for the truth.  When

we see those without work, or struggling in some way…. Let us show them mercy

like you have done to us.

  I can remember this verse because we used to sing it in a song, but it seems very

appropriate..it says:this “2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and s

eek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will

forgive their sin and will heal their land.  I am not sure our land can be healed without

your help.  We need to remove HATE and DISCRIMINATION from our HEARTS & MINDS

.  And GOD lead our governments in ways that will honor you.

  It is not going to be easy but I am praying and asking , in your name, with a heart

needing a little extra joy, Amen

Judy Hensley

Alot of special people that have come and gon--+e in my life

.
I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but I have a special memory book that i started a couple of years ago.  I try and write a short description of how some very special  people have influenced me.  If I have gone to their funeral, I put one of the memorial papers in with it, or I print out their obituary and place it with the other papers above.

It seems like this year, more than any other, so many that I know and admire have passed on.

I will be trying to catch up on my summaries of these in the next days.  They have died since the start of 2020 and none by the COVID-19 virus:  
Karen Mankey- friend with PD from Pennsylvania
Reuben Arbogast - almost like a grandfather to me, he was the father of a friend from church
Arlie Eanes- his wife Faye passed away last year.  They were friends of my parents and met when daddy was in the service.

Mary Markland - a dear friend of my mother's when they were in college together.

Enzo Simone-an advocate of epic proportions for PD and ALZ.

Karen Bacon Barnette- a friend since elementary school.

All these and just when I thought I was about to catch up on my memory book.  Sigh.

All such special people with special gifts and big hearts.  I know I am getting old but this is ridiculous.

ARticle about USA PD PD PALS and their walk at the Unity Walk in 2006 by Tina Stokes

www.unitywalk.org

P.O. Box 275
Kingston, NJ 08528
toll free: 1-866-PUW-WALK

USA-PD PALS Top Fundraising Team

 During Their Very First Unity Walk (4-06)

By Trina Stokes

Ann Marie (Annie) Konopka of New Jersey and Judy Hensley of Tennessee, Team Captains of USA PD PALS, didn’t take their diagnosis of Young Onset Parkinson’s disease lightly. Undaunted by such a diagnosis of PD, they both have become involved in two different states in a common effort to reach out to the public to raise donations for research and to help others understand Parkinson’s disease. One of the major efforts in this quest was to have a team in the 2006 Unity Walk and raise $10,000. These two women have stopped at nothing to reach and then exceed their team goal by $7,000. “Some people with Parkinson’s aren’t able to get involved with the cause—Judy and I are lucky that we can,” says Annie.

Annie resides in Kendall Park, New Jersey. She was diagnosed two years ago at the age of 39. Her pride and joy is her husband, Joe and their son who is 10 and their daughter, age 5. She stays very busy with a wide range of interests, i.e. painting and poetry.

Judy is from East Tennessee and works full time as an analytical chemist. She was diagnosed over 3 years ago at the age of 40. She has been married for 22 years and has a daughter who is 12 years old.

These two friends met through an online support group. “I was responsible for interviewing ‘a person of the week’ for our newsletter. I read Judy’s story and realized we had a lot in common—such as our hopes for the future,” Annie stated. And they became friends in a year’s time.

Annie began to champion support and started a new online group called USA PD-PALS. “She is a go-getter. She likes to tackle new things so she started a chat group through Yahoo and began to see membership and interest increase,” mentioned Judy. “This is an educational support group where we host special chats one night a week about a specific topic of relevance to PD. It’s really neat to be a part of a support system that understands each other. We have grown to over 75 members, including people from England and Australia. The name of the group is only indicative of where it originated. Anyone is welcome to join this caring online support group,” noted Annie.

Annie and Judy try to cope with their disease in similar ways. However, their diagnosis came down two very different paths.

About one year before Judy’s diagnosis she had gone to her primary care doctor with a sore thumb and eventually a hurting shoulder. Still having questions—her doctor sent her to an orthopedic doctor. By that time she had developed a limp on the same side. That was enough to get a referral to a neurologist.

“A few months before I was diagnosed I read an article in my local newspaper about Peggy Willocks, a leading advocate for Parkinson’s disease and a Young Onset patient herself and from the description of her symptoms, I knew that a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease was a real possibility,” said Judy.

“My husband was with me in the neurologist's office when I was told that I had Young Onset Parkinson's disease. we asked a few questions but left not knowing what this diagnosis would mean to us. I felt numb leaving the doctor’s office—and I cried all the way home. Since then my family and church have been great sources of support. You may know all you can about Parkinson’s disease but it is really an emotional adjustment to come to grips with it. Also, talking to other people with Parkinson’s is a big help—they help me see how others cope from day to day,” Judy expressed.

Annie goes on to say, “Unfortunately, for me my diagnosis wasn’t as quick. It took 5 years. I had terrible pain in my left arm and had a lot of facial pain. My symptoms were coming and going.”

“At one point I had a very bad sinus infection—then I began to see doctor’s to try to get answers. I saw a world of doctors. They were telling me it was stress related and that I should see a physiatrist but while I was pregnant with my daughter my symptoms seemed to subside,” Annie said.

“Six months post partum, a tremor in my left hand became more prominent. I thought I had Multiple Sclerosis. However, I took one doctor’s advice and saw a neurologist. The neurologist I saw at the University of Pennsylvania tested me for Multiple Sclerosis and couldn’t find evidence of the disease and told me to come back in 6 to 9 months if the symptoms worsen and speak to his colleague Dr. Stern, a Movement Disorder Specialist,” remarked Annie.

“In the meantime, my husband and I continued to seek out answers. I went back to the University of Pennsylvania and we weren’t in the doctor’s office for a minute when Dr. Stern, a Movement Disorder Specialist, diagnosed me with Young Onset Parkinson’s disease,” Annie said.

Annie went on to say, “the not knowing was worse—then just having my concerns validated—it was bitter sweet.” And Judy agreed by saying “at least when there is a proper diagnosis you know what you are going to face.”

USA PD-PALS made their debut at the 12th Parkinson’s Unity Walk. They had over 30 family and friends walk that day. “We love the Unity Walk,” said Annie. And after a first time visit to New York City, Judy said she is ready to return.

“My husband, daughter, sister and two friends from church came with me. They could have given a lot more monetarily to Parkinson’s Unity Walk but they wanted to show their support by participating in the Walk—this meant so much to me,” said Judy.

Both Annie and Judy described another exciting activity they were able to do while in Manhattan. They went to the Today Show to be spectators during the outside concert on the Friday before the Walk. “We were standing outside and asked one of the crew members if we could give Katie Couric something. She came over and we gave her a booklet, Stories from our Parkie Hearts, that we compiled from stories written by other Young Onset PD patients about their lives and we gave her a tulip magnet which has an inscription ‘Cure Parkinson's’. We told her we were in New York City for the Unity Walk the next day and she wished us the best. We later got to go in the studio shortly after the show was over and got to meet and talk with Katie, Matt and Ann. They were so gracious and encouraging and let us take pictures with them.” commented Annie.

This was Judy’s first time to New York City. She told me that she felt a little intimidated to come to such a big city and experience 10,000 people in Central Park. However, she became comfortable immediately. "I took over 250 pictures during my visit—I just couldn’t believe the awe-inspiring environment and people that were there the day of the Unity Walk,” mentioned Judy.

“We feel like people are doing themselves a disservice if they don’t try to come—it’s a great social gathering—but the educational information is invaluable,” Annie mentioned. Judy told me “You know Trina, I was reading about the 1st Unity Walk that had over 200 people and raised $16,000—this was our first year and our team of 14 raised $17,000. We couldn’t be more excited!”

Annie remarked, “this team started early—we started our fundraising in October. We had individual goals of $5,000 and $2,000 and a team goal of $10,000 at first and had to quickly increase our individual goals. Our fundraising agenda included: Pennies for Parkinson’s, Pizza for Parkinson’s, selling tulips, meeting with local banks and schools, and an online raffle. The donations began to roll-in and we received lots of support from family and friends through on-line donations on the website. On April 13th, two weeks before the Walk we hit our team goal of $10,000 and did not stop.”

These two go-getters give a little advice. “People should realize that even if they aren’t able to come to the Walk they can still help at home, by using the phone or computers to help get the word out. It doesn’t hurt to ask people for a donation—the worst they can do is say ‘no’. Tell someone about Parkinson’s disease—don’t be shy about raising awareness,” stressed Judy. “Everyone has a different way of doing things—network, use your talents and don’t give up!”

Each person participating in the Walk has a very personal reason for doing the walk. Annie and Judy said they felt excited every time they checked to see how the donations were adding up on their team page. It is their ultimate wish that some of their effort will result in a cure for the disease that is affecting their lives, their friends lives and many others who live with
 fax: (609) 688-0875Parkinson's disease. Together they have found a way to personalize, through the Parkinson's Unity Walk, their determination to work for a cure. Annie ended the conversation when she said “Parkinson’s has changed my life—but I’m choosing how it will!”

Thank you to all our Teams that help us get one step closer to a cure.

Trina Stokes

Annie and Judy meet Matt and Katie from the Today Show.

USA-PD PALS at the 2006 Walk.

Meanings of the name CAROL

Today I found a little bookmarker that I had in a book at one time. It was titled Meaning of the name Carol.... it is from the Latin root of Charles and is a feminine form of Carl or Charles. And two other definitions are strong and womanly.  

Then it listens about 10 characteristics of the name Carol:

1. She will do nothing but her best, 

2.  Has dignity and all she does,

3. Has an appetite for life,

4. Takes time for others and herself,

5.Is respectful and loyal,

6. Likes to dazzle others,

7. A highly religious woman,

8.Gentle and shy,

9. The bigger the adventure , the better! 

Another set of definitions of the name Carol include the following:

Emotional spectrum "be happy" is the key ,

Personal Integrity: she will tell the truth even if it hurts,

Personality: optimism is the best word that would describe her,

Relationships: she gives you a lot but expect some back in return

Travel: unplanned trips are the most fun,

Career: she would make it in the movies because she is a 'natural'.

life/money: if there is a way to make money Carol is all for it.

This sounds more like Cooper. LOL

I think many of these descriptions fit my Carol very well (maybe we should get Cooper's take on this too)?

The only thing they forgot is has a BIG SMILE on her face, all the time!

Judy Jun 6, 2020

Tribute to Enzo Simone

The man.Enzo and his famous point got me tickled

To:  Friends and Family of Enzo Simone

Date May 26, 2020/From:  Judy Hensley

About Enzo--what a guy!

I wanted to share why I think Enzo was one the most outstanding individuals I have ever met in my life. 

 The first time I read about the Regulars and Enzo, I knew he was someone I wanted to meet because he has some pretty crazy ideas of how to make people donate to help some of us 'sick' people.  He was not ashamed to ask you questions that made you think, like... “Remember when you were young and you thought anything was possible?”The secret is……...IT STILL IS!”  

  That was his hook line and sinker  quote that he used on me to commit to climb Mount  Washington.  I tried to tell him that I had PD and I sometimes could not move very well at all, and his comeback was “Don’t worry about a thing”., He said it would rival anything I had ever done up to that point in life, so I thought about it and told him I would do it, but not alone, So I had to convince my PD pal, Jeanette, to come along with me. If you know Jeanette (Jett) then you would know she is always full of excitement (and that is no lie!) Jett also has PD .
We were 2 out of 27 with PD or ALZ and some of their family and friends who climbed Mt Washington one day in the summer of 2010.. Enzo arranged for us to start closer to the top and he made sure we all made it to the summit. He allowed a group of PD and ALZ patients, friends and family to believe in something bigger than themselves!.  Jeanette and I can both now see with clarity how important this project came to be in our lives, and what a great time we had!! We were so proud of ourselves when we got back to our routine life of PD.  Now we had something grand to tell our grandkids!  
In the 10M10Y movie, Enzo reminds us about something important in life--dreams. He said   “Dreams fuel imagination, imagination creates hope, hope becomes drive” so go ahead and Dream BIG!   
One of my favorite parts of the 10M10Y movie is at the end when Enzo speaks of why his adventures are so important to him, in the present and in the future.  He says that even if he is not able to tell his grandchildren or speak to them of things that happened in his life, he thinks it is important to leave written words and pictures to show them what he and his forces of determination and resolve have done. And I think many will continue to document in words and pictures for any and all to read and see with a new understanding that “ANYTHING is possible and TO NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER.” 

For E’s family and friends, I hope you will treasure all the wonderful memories so many have of him as the motivator, the encourager, the challenger and the warrior that he was known to  be to  many that live with Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer's disease.  Chadd, I hope you grow up and embody your dad’s most admirable qualities. You will surely know what a wonderful person your dad was and how he motivated  people and what a free spirit he was, and why he was a  man who cared deeply about people around him.  Not only did Enzo Simone lead an ARMY of CHANGE but he was  always looking for recruits to make their mark in an  Army of Hope who take great  leaps of faith to understand that we are all  born to end  Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Thank you Enzo for sharing your adventures with all of us and for promoting the attitude of positivity and comradery!  I will miss you but will never forget you.  Your ARMY of Change will carry on and do great things in your honor.  May your Army always be strong . and remind us  to DREAM BIG and to realize what we were born to do -end these illnesses. I am praying for God’s great peace and love to surround your family and  friends during this time.

  RIP Enzo, Thank you for the incredible memories of a mountain in New Hampshire your kind words and the way you made us think,
“IN-10-city” Hensley, aka Judy in Tennessee, a Parkinson’s patient.

The Virus..it's on my mind so it is in my blog today.....

I'm not a happy camper.  I don't like the corono virus and what is has done to my life.  I haven't lost anyone to the virus but have a relative in the front lines battle with it.  I also know of a couple of families it is affecting.

And I don't know who to be mad at for making it.  I want someone to be mad at, because this  is not going to be pretty when we come out the other side of this chaos.  It is ugly right now.  Ir is a very contagious virus that  is flooding our world, and if we had not put in place some restrictions when this country did,  it would be spreading and growing like a like wildfire here in the USA.  

Some have reckoned our fight against the spread of this virus as a war.  I can believe we are at war.  And we are in this together....and that includes the whole world. We are at war with a deadly human enemy with no gun,  it does not resemble us, nor does it discriminate.  It will hop on our backs without being seen, and pick us off one by one. But it has found the wrong group of people to pick on when it picked the United States of America.

People in the USA  know about this virus stuff, people in the USA know how to make cars and turn plants around to make respirators, people in the USA  normally fight with guns, ships, and big bombs, and people in the USA who know how to "get it done" are kickin this smart #@s virus out the door and gonna stomp it out!

But that is just the beginning. After the virus has been defeated, there will need to be a reclaiming of our lives and many will have to  realize life as we knew it  will never be the same.....but it will be our lives.Who knows how long this phase will last but it will require patience and guidance.  The next reclaiming phase will be to reclaim our countries, our economies, our trust in one another, and our spirit of mercy and love, and our desire to be truthful among all nations.  

And the last phase of this battle will be to reclaim the hope of our hearts and tor let every soul know that they are special in the good days and  bad.   And we need to  bow our knee to the Creator of this great earth on which we live, and ask Him to give us another chance.  But we have to be willing to learn from this chaos and remind our children of how we have changed.  It will be up to them to determine if the change has been for the better of our world or not. 

In this year of 2020, it will be up to us to let those who follow us decide if the vision we implemented was clearly a good one or a blurry one at best.  I was raised to know Gods love for us and his forgiveness, and his faithfulness.  so I am going to put my faith and trust in Him.  He has been here since the beginning and will be here until the end

Dear LORD, I don't like this 'social distancing' .  You know i am a social person.  I feel cooped up and can relate some to Noah and being on the ark for 40 days and night!  IT seems everyone is focused on the TV Watching TV is fun for some, but not so much for me.  Show  me where I can be your light in this world.  And please  give an over=abundance of wisdom to those in authority.Let me be bold and courageous in the days ahead.  And help us to give you all the thanks for everything you do for us!  Amen

Psalm 25:9 New International Version (NIV)

9 He guides the humble in what is right
    and teaches them his way.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Judy Hensley 3/31/2020

Every once in awhile,

When  you meet someone like the  man  I am going to tell you about you might

say "that guy has a gift of teaching young  people! " But I don't think you could imagine that this person who you are so impressed with, would deliver your daughter's eulogy within 6 years of knowing him.  I would like to tell you about one such person and how they impacted my life and the life of my daughter, Carol.  You probably don't know this person  unless you attend my church, North Ridge Community Church and happen to have met the family pastor there for the last 5 years or so.  The man I am speaking of is Johnny Byrd.

Johnny and Cooper

Actually Johnny and the Hensley family go back farther than that, to around 2009 at another church. The church was a new launch and we knew many of the people starting out with the church.  One Sunday we found out who the 'new youth pastors' were going to be.  One of the young men was Johnny. He and another young man would be "tag-teaming" the youth pastor duties.  And I don't know why but the person introducing them was poking fun of Johnny's name.  Weird, isn't it , the things you remember some days?

Well it didn't take long for our daughter to be a youth regular and she got to interact with Johnny quite a bit.  This interaction continued even after she was out of the youth department and had gotten married.  (more on that to come)

We felt completely at ease with Johnny in the role of youth pastor and he eventually was the primary youth pastor/leader.  He and his wife took Carol and Cooper under their wings, and they always had a great time doing things with all the youth.   I will always be grateful  for her to have had such a godly and personal friendship with Johnny and his wife at such a crucial time in her life.

The first time I knew that Johnny Byrd was a special person was when he called me one day around lunch and said he wanted to tell me something before I heard it from anyone else.  The news he relayed to me was that he had resigned from being the youth pastor at the church we were attending at the time.  I sat and cried on the phone as he told me this.  I told him that I knew Carol and Cooper would be devastated.  He assured me that he would try and keep up with them and still be there for them if needed.  There are not many 20 something year old youth pastors  who care about their youth and their parents like Johnny does.

You know what though?  God had plans that we were not aware of at the time, and it wasn't long before Johnny and his wife were attending church where we had just started attending as well.  At Northridge Community Church (in the first campus years, Brad Olin was the youth pastor. ) It was not hard for Carol to make friends with the young people there and also with the leader and his wife (Brad and Amber).  She and Cooper went on a mission trip to Atlanta with that youth  group, and I think it really impacted both of them.

 It wasn't long before our main campus had secured  a building to be remodeled and become the second campus in Johnson City.  We decided we would start attending this second campus because we knew the new campus pastor, Chris Miller from many years back.  No one is counting are they?  Good, then I will go on.....

Well, God in his wisdom and goodness, and just mind blowing wisdom would provide, Johnny Byrd, the family pastor position at the campus we were attending.  So we were back together again and very happy to have these 2 godly men that would serve in leadership positions as we remodelled a used bowling alley into a church!

  During this time, Carol graduated from high school, and she and Cooper felt that their relationship was growing and they got married the summer after she graduated and moved to Gatlinburg TN to start their own business.  They just thought they were getting away from everyone else (not really) because Johnny Byrd had a part time job in Gatlinburg on the weekends so that he could be at church on Sundays for the youth.  So when he was on his weekend job, he would usually see Carol or Cooper, depending on their schedule of who was working that weekend.  He could also take an occasional item to them  and saving us shipping costs!  So thanks you to Johnny for serving in a dual function for us at that time.

 Carol never got to see the 'new  church campus' we were working on.  She died in a tragic incident at their workplace on February 27, 2013. She had not been feeling well and passed out and fell head-long into a glass display case and a big piece of glass severed her aorta.  She and Cooper had only been married 7 months when this happened.  We were devastated, and so was our church family and many other organizations.  But so many of our friends, family and church covered us in prayer and love, and somehow we made it  through this unthinkable tragedy.

 Johnny had a group of grieving youth to try and console and yet he gave a beautiful eulogy at Carol's Celebration of life on Mar 3, 2013. He did an amazing job telling all the people who came to the service, just what an amazing young person she was.  I can never thank him enough for the kind words he shared that day about our daughter.  You could tell that they had a special bond and that is why I am writing about him here.

I have heard Johnny tell his own 'God Story' and at a time in his life when he needed someone to give him hope his youth leader was able to help him find his purpose in life.  I thank God that his path crossed Carol and Cooper's lives and let them know that God always was in control, but Momma still wanted to know how they were doing!

Well , a couple of weeks ago, Johnny gave me news about a new opportunity for him, and I cried again.  But this time there is good news in what he told me:  He will still be at one of our campuses, just not ours., as a campus pastor. It is taking me a while to process this but I can see how God has been moving in his life up to this point.  Johnny is going to be a campus pastor  at the  Springbrook campus beginning late March/early April of this year!  When I stop to think about Johnny's life --I can see how faithful he is to his God and how God has been investing in Johnny Byrd's life. The only advise I can give to Johnny is just stay goofy, give your worries to  the LORD, and keep letting God lead you and mold you into the man he wants you to be.....in this church...at this time...for His glory!

 

I will be praying for you and your family Johnny.  

And know that I love you friend,

  Judy Hensley
2/25/2020