1989

Parkinsons

 
Grandma Junior at left, Carole, Diane, Mom, Gary, Dad

In March Mom told me that Grandma Junior had Parkinson’s disease.  I had known she had been “sick” for some time but didn’t know why.  Grandma had been living in Zephyrhills, Florida where she had bought a condo to be closer to her brother Bob and her daughter Carol.  Bob Schwander, who has the same birthday as Mom, had moved his family back and forth between Michigan and Florida several times over the years and was then living in Zephyrhills.  Grandma’s condition has worsened to the point that she could no longer drive and needed help getting about, so she decided to move back to Gainesville where she had more family to help.  Uncle Gary built her a small house for Grandma next to his log cabin house on 10th Avenue where she then moved to.

A few years later Grandma’s brother Bob also developed Parkinson’s developed Parkinson’s.  One visual symptom of Parkinson’s is difficulty controlling facial muscles which the person’s smile becomes more of a grimace which can be seen in the photo above, something I would begin to notice with Mom.   

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