Notre Dame Provincial Park- Gander
Distance: 38km, 45.6km
“It’s 9 pm now. In the living room, people are still playing guitar and singing together. In the kitchen sink, a cod fish is unfreezing. A couple of rum bottles scattered on the table with “Newfoundland Screechers” certificates next to them. We just enjoyed the best food on the trip, and the sweet taste of the delicious trifle is still in my mouth. The past couple of hours have been truly eye-opening.
Riding on the road this week, we quickly learned “there are no strangers in newfoundland.” The friendliness comes from honking on highways, from campgrounds, from grocery stores, from bars and restaurants, and from people’s backyards.
Today, when we arrived at Gander, a family opened their house to us, but what we experienced was that a community opened their arms to us. Koren, Dave and their three lovely sons, Alexander, Benjamin, and William, living in this house, is the family affected by parkinson’s. Koren was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 9 years ago. Soon after meeting the family of five, we found ourselves shaking hands with the brothers and sisters, the parents, the neighbours, the people in their support group, family friends, and friends of friends. In their kitchen, family and friends were preparing dinner together, and more and more people were showing up in their backyard. Being in the center of this movable feast, Koren was everywhere, talking to everyone, taking care of needs, and her energy was going through the roof. Smile on her face, she was glowing with joy.
This is a thriving person, a thriving family and a thriving community they are building. For Koren, being diagnosed with Parkinson’s was far from the end of the world, it was a wakeup call to live life to its fullest. It was a reminder to be disciplined with exercise and care for her body and mind, to engage with caring family and friends, and to share joy and abundance with others every single day.
I think we can all learn so much from here: How do we live with the disease? How do we thrive?
