A Rosh Hashanah joke from the 70’s, when digital clocks were all the rage:

“You gotta get one of these new clocks.”
“Nah, I don’t need it.”
“But you can see it at night!”
“Who needs a clock at night?”
“What if you wake up, and you need to know what time it is?”
“I use my shofar.”
“A shofar doesn’t tell time!”
“Of course it does. I step outside, blow it strong, and someone shouts:
“What are you nuts?! It’s 2:45 in the morning!”

          Joan Wolstein,  www.neurocommunity.org

Of course we all know that the digital clock reminds us of our ongoing sleep problems related to Parkinson’s.  For those of you who are not Jewish, a Shofar is a ram’s horn that is blown on the holidays Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur in synagogues. Can you imaging blowing the shofar everytime you wake up during the night?  My neighbors would have the police out in no time.

At this time of year, we pray for a sweet and healthy New Year.  It is a new beginning, much like the secular New Year on January 1.  According to Jewish tradition, we are being judged by G-d for the coming year during the 10 day period encompassing the two holidays known as the High Holidays or the Days of Awe.   We pray that we will be written in the book of life.  For those of us with PD, let’s also pray for the breakthrough in treatment that seems so close.  And of course, wishing all of you much good health in the coming year.

Tomorrow I will be flying to New Jersey to attend the Women and PD Conference sponsored by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.  One of the requirements of the conference is that the participants plan an event(s) for women in my community with PD.  If you have any thoughts about an event you would like to see happen in the Los Angeles area for women with PD, please e-mail your ideas to me by Friday.  I have a few ideas, but your input will be valuable as I try to determine what type of event or program I will be planning.  In addition, please let me know if you want to work with me on the event.

More to come next week.

Shana tova u’metukah (have a good and sweet new year)

Sharon