[Jaye]

It is very hard to ignore a community of people personally affected by a life-changing condition like Parkinson's Disease, especially when all the individual storytellers, all the volunteer organization staff members, all the families, all the medical professionals are in agreement about what they are requesting from their legislators--what programs, done by whom, with how much money to keep them going. This is why the annual Parkinson's Action Network with its educational forums and lobbying visits to Capitol Hill is held, said Executive Director Amy Comstock of PAN this morning at the opening session of the 13th annual PAN forum. Yes, there is one person with Parkinson's present who has been to all 13 forums! We also come here to meet each other, have some fun when the work day is done, and above all, to talk talk talk and listen listen listen about what is the best way to show our unity and exactly what to unify on. It's a matter of life and death, according to Ann Udall, chairman of the PAN board, and everyone has their own take on it. Hopefully our differences are reconciled by hard work and translated into very real power.

Jaye

[lou_lou]

say hello to all the wonderful Parkies for me!
and say "howdy" to all the onery ones!!