Although Sweden’s national day is on the 6th of June (and incidentally wasn’t made a bank holiday until 2005…), the true national day of Sweden by any standards must be Midsummer’s eve. On the Friday closest to Summer Solstice everyone in Sweden with their own summer cottage will celebrate the longest day of the year together with…… Continue reading Swedish midsummer
Category: In English
Being brave
Last year I did the the bravest thing I have done in my life. And to me being brave has very little to do with exposing yourself to all sorts of life-threatening activities such as parachuting or bungee-jumping or even riding a bicycle down a ski slope in Slovakia in the summer (one of my friends has…… Continue reading Being brave
The first diagnosis
My previous blog ended: “I did not get back to them”, and I did not. However, my mother did. In my medical record I found that exactly 2 years after my first visit, my mother called the clinic, worried about my deterioration. I was given another examination in October of 1989 and in the record…… Continue reading The first diagnosis
The first meeting
I think I was around 13 years old when I first realised that my body did not function the same way as others’, I might even have been younger. I remember sitting on a chair in a school, community centre or something similar in the village of Ängersjö in the north of Sweden listening while…… Continue reading The first meeting
Downhill skiing
I don’t presume to have a lot of regular readers and probably fewer still will have followed me from the beginning. Which is why I would not assume that anyone remembers at what age I had my first PD symptoms. However, for some strange reason they coincided in a slightly alarming way with the first…… Continue reading Downhill skiing
The joy of serendipity
Have you heard the story of the Three Princes of Serendip? Serendip is Persian name for Sri Lanka and the story is alledgedly based on the life of the Persian King Bahram V, who ruled the Sassanid Empire (420-440), according to Wikipedia, our time’s equivalent to the Oracle of Delphi. Anyway, the princes of the…… Continue reading The joy of serendipity
Christmas in Sweden
Today is the 24th of December and in Sweden this is the day we celebrate Christmas. I know, I know… we are not normal… but this way it’s over and done with before we suffer too much. Don’t get me wrong, I like Christmas…. no, that’s not entirely true, I have mixed emotions about it.…… Continue reading Christmas in Sweden
Me and PD revisited
When I was first given my Parkinson’s diagnosis, my world shattered… Our daughter was 9 months old and trying to learn how to walk. Was I to stop walking when she started? How much longer would I be able to work? How long before I was going to be completely dependant on others? Would my…… Continue reading Me and PD revisited
HP goes PD?
As someone who has loved the stories about the underdog wizard from the first time I heard of him, I am of course absolutely thrilled that the film “Harry Potter and the deathly hallows” recently premiered. Although I must confess that I haven’t seen all the films, I have however read all the books, more…… Continue reading HP goes PD?
Glasgow, city of hope and determination (WPC2010)
By first glance, Glasgow might seem like just another city anywhere in the world, with its downtown glass-clad buildings and shopping area. By the way, how come the Swedish clothes brand that used to be considered really low quality and that no-one in my first grade class would be caught dead in is all over…… Continue reading Glasgow, city of hope and determination (WPC2010)