The best present

 Yesterday was my birthday and next Sunday we will keep up the tradition in our remote hamlet which is to invite all the neighbours in mid afternoon for cake and bubbly. It was five years ago, the last time we had a lot of snow, that we did the same thing. The fire was roaring, the table laden with cakes and the Long Suffering One had the really cool idea of sinking the bubbly in the deep snow of our backyard to chill. As the neighbours arrived he went outside sensibly clad in his slippers to bring in a couple of bottles. There are two steps down into our dining area from outside and he promptly slipped down them and cracked the base of his spine on the bottom step. He was in agony and the neighbours scarcely consoled him with their admiration for the fact that he managed to hold each bottle securely without dropping either.

I wasn’t sure what to do but my neighbours, all farmers, took over. He was wrapped up and helped out into a vehicle equipped for the snowy conditions and driven a few kilometres to another local farmer with the healing ‘gift’ for drawing out pain. I was amazed he went as he is such a sceptic but I guess it was a mixture of pain, embarrassment and not wanting to appear rude or ungrateful. Just as the neighbours predicted he returned still sore but better enough to enjoy the rest of the celebration and then a surprisingly good nights sleep. Fortunately when he went for an X-ray the next day, as advised by the healer, he had not done anything serious. He had quite an adventure and insight into rural practices here.

I hope my celebration next Sunday will be less eventful. My best present as ever would be news of a better treatment or better still a cure for Parkinson’s Disease. I subscribe to Google Alerts which sends a daily update and I am aware of many global developments. In the meantime I continue to take up Jellywoman’s suggestion to raise money by on line purchases through Give as You Live. It works in much the same way as a comparison site, with the retailer paying a commission for sending people to their sites – only in this case the commission is passed on to a charity of the consumer’s choice. I used the iPad app to buy my Christmas presents from eBay and Amazon and nominated Parkinson’s UK to receive the commission. It all helps!