It’s been a long time since I’ve awakened with a song in my head. In the past, awakening with a song playing over and over again in my head corelated with an important life event; and today’s song by CSNY correlates well with Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Below are the lyrics to “Teach Your Children.” For those of you who are too young to know the song, I’ve included a hyperlink.
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good-bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well,
Their children’s hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
Here’s my take on this song. We are all on the road of life and many of us experience our own personal hell while taking our journey from birth to death. My personal hell is Parkinson’s. As their father and teacher, my job is to teach them how to avoid the dreams that I let haunt me throughout my life and give them reasons to have better dreams, dreams of being healthy and happy.
Currently, there are no proven preventative measures that can be taken but many physicians believe that exercise and leading a healthy lifestyle combined with a diet high in anti-oxidants may prove helpful in delaying or even lessening the impact of the disease.
Certainly, had I been healthier at the time of diagnosis, I would be better now. My dream is that research will ultimately come up with a cure and that’s the dream I want my children to focus on. In the meantime, I am happy to say that they have been exercising regularly, have improved their diets and are living healthier lifestyles.
Whether you have Parkinson’s or not, a healthier lifestyle, diet and exercise will surely improve your physical and emotional being. Work at being “Wellthy.” (“Diets and Other Unnatural Acts” is now free on Kindle). The life you save may be your own.
Here’s today’s jokes:
If a man talks dirty to a woman, that’s sexual harassment. If a woman talks dirty to a man, that’ll be $6.50 a minute.
If a midget tells you your hair smells nice… “…is that sexual harassment?”
