Together for Sharon

Caring for a loved one with Parkinson's disease can be a life-altering voyage that many of us will never fully understand—unless we've walked that path ourselves. Dr. George Ackerman joins us to share the deeply personal narrative of his mother, Sharon's, battle with this incapacitating illness, and how it thrust upon him the mantle of caregiver. Dr. Ackerman gives voice to the often-unsung heroes tending to the needs of those with Parkinson's and how these experiences fuel his fight for change and support through initiatives like the National Plan to End Parkinson's Disease bill. Dr. Ackerman’s journey reveals the broader narrative: that our shared struggles can create unexpected pathways to advocacy and support for others. 

Contact:
www.asiliveandgrieve.com
info@asiliveandgrieve.com
Facebook:  As I Live and Grieve
Instagram:  @asiliveandgrieve
YouTube:  asiliveandgrieve
TikTok: @asiliveandgrieve

To Reach Dr. Ackerman:
Website:  https://www.togetherforsharon.com/
Email:  togetherforsharon@gmail.com
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-ackerman-ph-d-esq-mba-00871a82/
TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@togetherforsharon1
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/togetherforsharon112020 
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/togetherforsharon/

Credits: 
Music by Kevin MacLeod 

Transcript

Stephanie: 0:01

Welcome to As I Live and Grieve, a podcast that tells the truth about how hard this is. We're glad you joined us today. We know how hard it is to lose someone you love and how well-intentioned friends and family try so hard to comfort us. We created this podcast to provide you with comfort, knowledge and support. We are grief advocates, not professionals, not licensed therapists. We are YOU.

Kathy: 0:27

Hi everyone. Welcome back again to As I Live and Grieve. Yep, we're doing it again. Another great guest. You're going to love this story. It's going to be so meaningful for you and I know that so many of you are going to resonate with this. One of my favorite things to talk about are the legacies. Sometimes we don't set out with that intention, it just happens. But I'm going to let you hear this story. Today With us is Dr. George Ackerman. George, do you like being called Doc? Dr George, who are you?

Dr. Ackerman: 0:57

I've been called a lot of things, but any of those work, but I just want to thank you and your audience for your time. It means the world to me. It's a very important conversation. It's really not just about a quick talk. It's something that has to continue until we find a cure for Parkinson's disease.

Kathy: 1:13

Absolutely, I agree wholeheartedly. There are so many issues out there today. So anytime that we, with this podcast, can represent a specific area, a specific niche, I consider it my privilege to do so and we really appreciate you taking the time from what I know must be a busy schedule. You have some great insight to offer us. So let's get started. And first I'm going to ask you if you would just give a little of your background to our listeners. Who is Dr. George Ackerman?

Dr. Ackerman: 1:42

Thanks. I mean I've always been an advocate, probably partly because my mother sacrificed so much, and I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for what she did for me. Before becoming a caregiver and thrown into the world of caregiving, I worked as a lawyer for Washington and also Florida, and I became a police officer and after that I realized that there's just so many calls. My goal is to help victims of crime. A lot of times I worked with actual individuals who lost a loved one due to crime and their family members become secondary victims, so they're often forgotten by the criminal justice system. But in law enforcement you have no time because you're really going from call to call to call. As an attorney, you don't have the time I wanted to at the prosecutor's office because you have case to case to case.

Dr. Ackerman: 2:31

Thankfully, I fell into education, became a professor but did my PhD and my dissertation was actually aiding African-American mothers who lost their loved ones due to murder and that was really something that my heart was in and just meant the world to me, because now it's able to fight and be a voice for the individuals who not only are gone but their families who remain, and it's very hard, as you can imagine, to reintegrate yourself back into society after you've lost a loved one due to that horrible act.

Dr. Ackerman: 3:01

So I kind of correlate my work back then, which I still do a little bit, to the world of Parkinson's, because a lot of the time, unfortunately, the Parkinson's community is forgotten, and has been for decades, by our society. And finally, last December, I'm proud to say that we're actually speaking today. During history, the first bill in US history passed through the United States House of Representatives called the National Plan to End Parkinson's Disease, and it's now heading to the Senate. It's actually spearheaded by the Michael J Fox Foundation and I would like you to be a part of it. And it's very important now, today, that I urge you and your audience to reach out to their senators or your senators, because you can actually contact them and tell them you need them to desperately support this bill, because if it does pass into law and the president signs it, it'll change the world for people struggling with Parkinson's and their kids. Oh that's incredible.

Kathy: 3:54

You've said so many things in there and for me, one of the little things and sometimes I focus on little bitty details here and there but you went from being an attorney to law enforcement. I more often hear it the other way around. Nonetheless, you have been law enforcement, an attorney in education. You have touched so many critical areas where knowledge and insight, education and awareness are important. I also want to take just a second, if I might, and applaud the work that you were doing for African American moms.

Kathy: 4:26

If you were in my locality, I would introduce you in a second to a most wonderful woman, Serena Cotton, who just works tirelessly in our city on the doorstep of her house and watched her son gunned down by someone passing by, and she has dedicated herself. So let's get back to the issue at hand, and that is Parkinson's. Now you were a caregiver. Again, more often it's the daughter who becomes the caregiver. It's unusual for the son to become the caregiver. Can you just give us a little background on how that kind of unfolded in your life? How did that happen?

Dr. Ackerman: 5:08

Yeah, I was actually shocked when I was told that by - this is the third time I've actually been told that during tough times with my mother, a nurse pointed out to me it's really amazing what you're doing. And I said what? And she said, well, you're a male and you're thinking. Well, I didn't even think of that because it's my mother and I'm proud to be a mama's boy. I said I need a shirt that said "proud to be a mama's boy.

Dr. Ackerman: 5:28

I might be 6'2", 200 pounds in law enforcement, but my mother meant the world to me. She was my best friend. That's what got me into this whole world. I didn't ask for it. I didn't ask for my mother to have Parkinson's. It was very challenging. Thankfully, a few weeks ago, after four years, we put out our first book and the book is important, not for I don't even care about sales and things, I just think it's important to get it in the world because it brings a perspective of a caregiver, but also brings the good times my mother's lifetime before Parkinson's and then how.

Dr. Ackerman: 6:00

Even though it was very dark and sad some days and I lost my best friend, my mother, today it's been a lot of light. I'm honored to meet individuals such as you, your family and your viewers, because you inspire me to keep fighting and I'm still grieving. That's why I was excited to be able to speak to you and your show, because, literally, I think we need 10 times more shows like yours, because there's a beginning, middle and an end of life, but no one wants to talk and an end of life, but no one wants to talk about the end of life. It's incredible how much you save on you, but you know how much families can be saved the turmoil, the fighting and the nonsense if you don't have a will, if you don't have a power of attorney, if you don't have. We were told my mother and they say it today, which I don't understand don't die of Parkinson's, you die with it. But my mother was a young, 69, and she had no other medical issues. It could have been obviously causes of the medicines and the condition, but she, believe me, would have been here if it wasn't for Parkinson's. She also unfortunately had late onset dementia.

Dr. Ackerman: 6:59

And, as we get into the talk, the problem with Parkinson's and why there is no cure is that everybody is so different, every journey is different and I'm not a medical doctor. I only discuss what I went through with my mother, but the book really takes us deep, dark and the good, bad and ugly which we never have the time to get through. Maybe I can read a sentence or two towards a little later. But I kept the journal the Last Year of Her Life, which was some way for me to grieve, but we never knew if she was going to pass. So we were shocked, but this all you know. I got thrown into the world and today I fight for those who, in memory of my mother and all those we've lost, probably tens of millions of people still out there, loved ones who lost someone due to Parkinson's. But I fight today for those still battling and their caregivers today.

Kathy: 7:45

Right, right, you are such an eloquent speaker, george, because you say so many things. There's so much packed in those words that you've just uttered and I wonder if, just to help our listeners a bit, who have may heard the term Parkinson's they hear Parkinson's disease, sometimes they may automatically connect it with the images they might see of Michael J Fox. But for you and for your mom and I want to say your mom, Sharon, because I think to speak their names is critical so for you and your mom, what did caregiving for Parkinson's in your mom, what did that look like?

Dr. Ackerman: 8:23

Yeah, quickly, just to get a background. Parkinson's again hits everyone differently. My mother, she had it for 15 years. She never really discussed it for seven, which was a shame. I don't know if it's because she wasn't aware or their you know late diagnosis. I can't ask her, unfortunately. But I know she was the kind of person that didn't want to burden the family and just keep her quiet, which is in a way not good. You always want to speak to your family.

Dr. Ackerman: 8:47

Maybe we could have done, I mean, I don't think there was much more we could have done but so she had stiffness in her left arm. She still lived independently, was able to live life, shop, see her friends. But towards the last few years, fourth or fifth, she started having trouble with her left arm. But she still was independent, could drive, so we weren't really as concerned as we should have been. Then, after she we tried everything, she was starting to get worse. So the last four years she went to a special trial at a university and I don't say anything about the university or doctor because I don't blame them, I blame the disease. But she came back one night and I was called over at 4 am into her home and I found her frantically moving her furniture out of the way and she said she was in fear that Nazis were inside. I got to the door, rushed to the emergency room. They said we saved her life, but that was really where her life kind of went on a downhill spiral and that wasn't even the worst of the night.

Dr. Ackerman: 9:41

The picture that haunts me the most and it's kind of like being in a horror movie is that I went back to her house the same night to pick up some clothes and I went into her bedroom, which I usually didn't go to her bed, so in the room, if you imagine, we have post-it notes that we write notes. It's almost like the movie Beautiful Mind, where the post-it notes are on the names of people and animals who were no longer alive. And she was having difficulty due to late onset dementia, with hallucinations and delusions. I'm just standing and that was the first time of shock, but I didn't even know what it was. I didn't hear of it. I didn't know what dementia we didn't have it in my family. So that was when I knew it was time to put on the shoes or the boots and get going and my goal was really just to comfort her to make sure she never felt alone.

Dr. Ackerman: 10:28

And that's my message today and as we continue, my big message being here with you today is that no one is ever alone in this fight. You have people like me who do. I don't want anything, we don't accept money, we don't want anything. We just want people to know you're never alone. And I kind of broke my own rule, which is always care for your own health first. But as a caregiver and today's advocate, I've thrown it out the window because I feel if we didn't meet today or let's say, last night, I didn't sit, I was in the hospital, I had my own health issues. But I don't want to cancel because I feel if we all, if the three of us, or your show reaches just one person, we've changed the world. So they know that they're not alone. And that's what drives me and pushes me to keep fighting. And you know I won't stop till there's a cure.

Kathy: 11:19

Well, I appreciate that and have a newfound respect, and I have to say also that I probably would have done the same thing myself. I would have set my own self-care and Kelly's nodding, she's agreeing as well. She knows her mother well and some things like that might be hereditary, just saying. But at any rate, self-care is important. So I just want to insert that you do need to take care of yourself, and in my extended family I can think of three people that are dealing day to day with a diagnosis of Parkinson's, and, as I think of each person, they're in varying stages and it is different. If I put the three of them side by side, I would never for a second think that they had the same diagnosis Not at all. So I personally can appreciate that. I also know that everything that our loved ones go through, when that day comes that they're no longer with us, we start to remember some of the memories, like the image you have of the room with all the post-it notes, and I, immediately when you started talking about it, went to that scene from Beautiful Mind with the post-it notes. My mother, kelly's grandmother, had a love of post-it notes as well, though I don't think Cruz had quite reached the point that she was using them for dementia. However, I will say that every single little ceramic piece tchotchke, whatever you want to call it in her china cabinet had a post-it note on the bottom with the name of the person who gave it to her, so that once she was gone, they would have dibs on possessing that item back. All of those things are key and they become part of our memories. Yet after that person is no longer with us, sharon is gone. Soon the members in my extended family may be gone, and I'll be left with those memories as well.

Kathy: 13:05

You have committed yourself to this campaign, to this mission, and you're using a phrase I think I'm correcting this together with Sharon, am I correct? That's Together for Sharon, Together for Sharon. com. So that's your website and that's what you have named your personal mission. Can you tell us specifically about that and how we, how our listeners, can contribute to that? You've mentioned several times you're not asking for donations. I applaud that. So that means that there's not a single person that could be listening to this, that isn't able to help in some way, shape or form. So tell us about that please. Can I answer it real quick? Oh sure, go ahead. Kelly.

Kathy: 13:50

Kelly: I'm not 100% sure what Parkinson's is or where it originates. Is that one of the reasons that there's trouble finding a cure?

Dr. Ackerman: 13:58

Yeah, I can go through that actually, but just a side note and it might be beautiful actually. Before we met we talked and I said my daughter's taking piano lessons and I'm worried that we'll hear it. I just want to and it might be tough to talk about this, but she's playing my mother's piano and I actually hear it a little and it's actually beautiful if you do hear it. So maybe it's good that we. I never had this before.

Dr. Ackerman: 14:19

I've done like hundreds of shows and I try not to do it at 3 pm on Friday because my daughter my mother's favorite thing in the world she played piano and my wife, for some reason, didn't want the piano when we moved because it was a big thing. Finally we convinced her because my wife's amazing support and my mother her only hope, for some reason, was that we would keep her piano and she never dreamt, nor did I, that my daughter and my two sons would all be taking lessons. And now from this talk while we're talking, I can hear it just sounds beautiful. But I'm thinking of my mother and she's with us now, so I just thought I'd mention.

Kathy: 14:52

That is beautiful. I wish I could hear it. I wish I could. I wish it were playing in the background.

Dr. Ackerman: 14:57

It is with us. I guess in a way Absolutely. One of your questions to me is extremely important. I kind of touched my mother, had stiffness in her left arm, but we didn't. You know, may I go? I have so much to talk, we don't have time. I just have to get it all out there.

Dr. Ackerman: 15:31

So there are, unfortunately, like me who lost a loved one due to Parkinson's and I feel many times we're often forgotten by the big organizations and I love them all, but obviously the main goal is the cure. Imagine if we brought back the millions of families who lost someone into the conversation. And I'm actually finished a book about it, it's my next book and don't ask I shouldn't. I had an issue and I was upset and that's one of the ways I get. Let's just talk quickly Again. I'm not a medical doctor. Please see your local lawyer disclaimer so you guys don't get in trouble.

Dr. Ackerman: 16:07

So there's five stages of Parkinson's. The first is where the symptoms are mild and don't interfere with daily activities. So you might have tremors. So Michael J Fox unfortunately the famous Canadian actor who I have honored to meet a few times now, which has been amazing he has external tremors and uncontrollable shaking which is very frightening in a way, because you can fall, harm yourself and many people have to resign from their lifetime careers, which is tragic because you know that's their livelihood. So stage one again mild problems with posture and balance, slight difficulty with walking and facial expression, but you can still be independent. Stage two symptoms become worse Movement symptoms like rigidity, bradykinesia. My mother had something called dystonia, where your toes curl and you can't do anything about it. Difficulty walking and also balancing. To add something called dystonia, where your toes curl and you can't do anything about it, difficulty walking and also balancing. So far stage one and two you can still live independently.

Dr. Ackerman: 17:03

Stage three is where it unfortunately starts to get more severe. Here is where a person can lose balance and that's what I feared in item one my mother to fall is if she broke something we would have had another issue. Stage four is now where independent living is almost impossible. Person may be able to stand but needs assistance. And then, finally, what I went through and I hate using the word hell, but it felt like hell from my mother on family.

Dr. Ackerman: 17:22

Symptoms at the fifth stage are debilitating. Someone likely can't even stand. It would be impossible. And that's where delusions come. Hallucinations, which is seeing, feeling or hearing things that aren't there, loss of smell, constipation, which was horrible my mother didn't sleep 24-7 because of her stomach Poor reasoning, weight loss was very bad, sleep disturbance and finally, if she didn't have enough, vision problems. So unfortunately, again, I went through all that with her.

Dr. Ackerman: 17:49

So some people, the reason it's so hard to find a cure. You're 100% correct. It's just so different to each individual and that's really the reason and why. So my mother that had external tremors, like Mr Fox does. She had internal, which frustrated her too because she felt like people didn't believe her at the time, but that wasn't the case. So again, that's kind of the fast forward version of this terrible disease and, by the way, it's the fastest growing neurological disease in the world.

Dr. Ackerman: 18:16

And I found out two years ago back to togetherfashrandcom that was started in memory of my mother. I felt like three, four people would see it and it would be fine. We've had over 40,000 people at the website and it's just growing. Bigger than me. I did learn two years ago that it wasn't just about me and my mother, it was about everybody fighting this disease. I had the honor to speak. I've interviewed 600 people around the world France, spain, italy, iceland, even Nova Scotia.

Dr. Ackerman: 18:45

I found out the Parkinson's disease doesn't discriminate. If you go on the website, you press interviews. It's completely free. You'll see the 600. And it's something that also changes my life. Every morning I wake up I see a new person's story in there or advocate or family member and honestly, like the little energizer button, if you remember, I feel like I get re-energized, just ready to fight again.

Dr. Ackerman: 19:07

So at the website, again, we don't accept money. There are the link for donations, but what that is beautiful, it's different organizations like Michael J Fox Foundation. They've actually made a link for their organization in memory of my mother. So if you do donate a dollar or two, all we ask is for 50 cents, because if everybody gave a quarter it would be incredible. But it goes right to them so thankfully. As a lawyer, that's why I didn't want a foundation, but I don't want to get that technical money.

Dr. Ackerman: 19:34

But that's a few of the things we actually I'm very proud of the most of three sections we just added. One is called people with Parkinson's. My idea was a lot of times the organizations are great, but in reality how many like, let's say, the three of us? God forbid have it. What's the likelihood that we're going to literally gain something directly from some donation? It's not really likely. So what I do is I've had a section called PWP as people with Parkinson's. So anyone who has Parkinson's, even listening email me your website and your two sentences and I'll add it for free. So what I'm hoping is that people will learn about an artist who has Parkinson's. A guy I'm friends with named Steven, who has a company makes shirts that have Parkinson's quotes. You donate. It goes directly to them. Nothing comes to us and now the person might be able to afford their medication. Wonderful.

Dr. Ackerman: 20:21

And then I added we added a section called In Memory, and this is where I'll kind of fast forward, because I know we have so much to talk about. I added a section called In Memory and if you click on it there's a candle burning and it's very hard to find people. But I've decided this next book dedicated to all the people who lost a loved one due to Parkinson's, because I believe my mother still matters and our voice still counts. So if anyone out there lost a loved one and wants me to interview them, those go there. We even have a celebrity section, which has been incredible Kenny G, the famous saxophone player that was my mother's favorite musician. Yeah, he played a song and dedicated a song to my mother. On the website Two weeks ago, jack Osborne left a message.

Dr. Ackerman: 21:03

Ozzy Osborne's son Also met with Janet Reno. I met Michael J Fox, who's my literal hero because he had Parkinson's it's called young onset at age 30. In his 30s he could have done like what some people want just have a private life gone away. He didn't do that. He built the foundation and last Saturday I was in New York for the Unity Walk with him and so many. I met Katie Couric, which was incredible. Muhammad Ali's daughter, maymay, was there. When we talk about Parkinson's, like I said, we're all a family. Just because you have more reach doesn't mean anyone's better than anyone, but we need these people because they can really get the word out there and, like I said, even talking to you today, I feel like voices are just so much.

Kathy: 21:44

It is, and conversation is critical I can't think of, well, I guess, let me flip it. Let me flip it a different way. There are numerous times in my day that I might though I could be anywhere, I might hear on the radio, I might catch a glimpse on the TV. Yesterday I was treating myself to a pedicure and they had the TV on in the salon and I heard a little clip of something and I thought, oh, oh, oh, and those little things that all of a sudden will strike something in me that I have to do something about it.

Kathy: 22:16

Either I have to find more information so that I feel more secure in my knowledge of something, or I have to respond in some way. And it might be something so simple as going to a website and, for goodness sakes, give it up 50 cents. Really, really, I would never, I would never be comfortable with that. But little things like that, sometimes the smallest thing, sometimes just going to a website and indicating in some way, shape or form that you have been there, will just do so much, because then the numbers build. Then, as other people go, they see all the other people that have visited, that have reached out, that are in some way connected to the same thing and, as you say, it becomes family. It's a collaboration, it's an effort of people who care so together for Sharoncom correct. I want to make sure I have it correct.

Dr. Ackerman: 23:12

I agree, and, like I said, I don't want to get too out of box, but I'm so grateful for your time because I don't feel I mean you have a lot of guests and things that I feel that this is very important in my heart and I feel like we become family in this talk. Absolutely, that's not something right. And I love the name of your show. I love you both, but the show, the name. I think we need more. I said it's four years now. I'm still grieving every day. And not to get back to the book, but if everyone sees this picture oh, the cover is gorgeous.

Dr. Ackerman: 23:42

I did a show and I fell apart talking about oh, this picture is actually one of my favorite moments of my mother. Like you had mentioned, Parkinson's can never take those moments away. That was a dance at my wedding. It was the happiest day of my life. Of course we didn't have my children yet. Those were incredible, Right, right. That was the mother and son dance and I had three minutes with my mother and we laughed, we joked and we danced and Parkinson's didn't exist in those moments and that's what I kind of go back to. But I do feel speaking to you helps me grieve, and doing this and fighting for others is drives me. But, As I Live and Grieve, still four years later, being here with you means the world.

Kathy: 24:24

Yeah, that name kind of came by way of I can't call it anything other than divine inspiration. We were struggling for a name and I got very frustrated with trying to come up with something not necessarily cutesy, but something that would really be memorable. And I struggled and I was getting so frustrated with myself and I said, oh my gosh, as I live and breathe, why can't I just figure it out? And there it was, and I was getting so frustrated with myself and I said, oh my gosh, "as I live and breathe, why can't I just figure it out?

Kathy: 24:47

And there it was.

Dr. Ackerman: 24:54

My next question was to a I if read us something from you, because it had only been out for a week, so I never had the ability to do this.

Kathy: 25:02

Okay, Take your time and read two or three passages. The time is yours.

Dr. Ackerman: 25:08

June 11th. The last year of my mother's life was the toughest, but June 11th, 2019. This will take you into the world of struggling in Parkinson's and caregiver. 8 am my mother called very upset and cried that I shouldn't forget her and take her out of her place and to my house. She believes people are harming her. I calmed her down but those calls were consistent, repetitive and almost round the clock. She says the nighttime aid is mean but likes the daytime aid. Yesterday she loved the nighttime aid but hated the daytime aid. She will not hang up and begs me again to pick her up and can she come live with me? She is upset at her family and keeps repeating please don't forgive me, so you can see.

Dr. Ackerman: 25:49

Unfortunately that's kind of what I had, you know, 24-7. So we actually had to hire people. I don't call them caregivers, they were just kind of humans who didn't know much about partisan but just to make sure she didn't fall. But when you take someone who's independent for 68 years and puts rotating strangers, it's frightening for someone. So that was just one of the daily struggles. But you know, I went through very tough times, even depression, because my mother turned to me and she said am I going to be here for her granddaughter's wedding someday, because she was still 69 to me as young In 2024, without technology, I feel you have to live to 85, which I could be wrong, or even later. But so you know, it was just a constant struggle. I felt like that little mole from the whack-a-mole game and had to get a hit in the head every day, because it was whether it was a dementia, the Parkinson's, or just worrying she would fall, or her stomach, or it was just very, very frustrating.

Dr. Ackerman: 26:44

And I didn't. I never lied to her. I looked at her, I held a hand, said I don't know that's for that. I'd be by her side through it all and we were really grateful that we could afford not to put her in a home, because it goes back to what you said. I mean, I'm a male so I couldn't do a lot of things. She didn't have a husband at the time, so she was really it was just me and her. I have a brother, but he wasn't able to help like I did, and it was just me and my mother through the beginning of her life, the middle of my life and then sorry, beginning of my life. I couldn't be there. It was the beginning of my life.

Kathy: 27:17

Yeah, it's very difficult for any family member, anyone in the role as caregiver. Not only are they the instances where you have to physically help them, hands-on help them, whether it's support them as they're trying to walk or help them get back and forth to the bathroom, sometimes even those tasks that we hate to think about, but that's hygienic the ones cleaning them up when they've had an accident or something. But for me, one of the most difficult things about caregiving and I encountered this with my mother is when they're trying to, or when they're talking to us about something that terrifies them or bothers them. We don't often think about their feeling because we're so overwhelmed by our own, the fact that we know that what they're experiencing isn't necessarily reality. But we still have to validate what they're feeling and find a way to be supportive to them in that, while also trying to deal with the reality of the situation. Those can make for very difficult and demanding times and be emotionally burdensome for caregivers as well. It's no secret that what you went through not everybody is up for. You didn't have a choice in many ways, I mean, maybe you could have hired someone else to do it, but in your heart. You knew this was something that you, george, needed to do with and for your mom. And I believe that, for all the memories that you have of your mom, they're all kind of nestled around that comforting notion that you were able to give her this gift, that she knows that, as her life grew near its end, her son, george, was there with her. Regardless of what she said, what she was feeling, what she was experiencing, she could count on you being there. So I want to say to George, as part of your self-care directive, from me, I have my mom jacket on now, george, okay, I want to say to George, treasure this, because you gave her a gift that not everyone is able to give. So hang on to that and carry that with all those beautiful memories of her that you have. Okay, carry that.

Kathy: 29:26

And when you hear little things in the background, like that music your daughter is playing, that's a trigger. That's to remind you and anchor you again that you have given and continue to give this gift, not only for your mother, but for the world, for people that maybe you've met, maybe you've interviewed, maybe you've collaborated with, maybe you've marched with, but also people that you haven't yet met, that you may never meet. You're still doing all of this for your mom, sadly. On that note, I have to say that our time is winding down, but what I do at this period of time is I always turn the microphone over to my guest. That's your time to make sure that our listeners know how to reach you and, most importantly, how they can help without it costing them a dime, just a little bit of their time, which admittedly has value. I won't discount that. But from this moment now, for the next several moments, George, the microphone and the floor are yours.

Dr. Ackerman: 30:22

Thanks again. Thank you to your family and to the listening family for you know, joining, allowing me to join you today. Please share this, support your show, but it's very important. The main message is feel free to visit togetherforsharon. com. It's just me. We're not a foundation on purpose. I've just one son and one voice who lost his best friend, his mother, due to this disease and never wants her to be forgotten.

Dr. Ackerman: 30:46

It's a great site. I mean I pour my heart and soul into it and kind of getting so big that it's too much for me. But it's very expensive all this stuff. But again, you know we don't do it for that. But you'll see a lot of great things like resources if you want to get involved. There's different organizations but now we have them all literally in one place, so they're all right there from around the world, not just in the US. Also, please reach out to your senators, because that's how you can become not just involved but part of history.

Dr. Ackerman: 31:13

It takes a few minutes to call and write a letter. Somehow I was able to. This just came back this just in like a news story, but this is called the proclamation and it was actually from the Governor state of Florida and that was not easy for me to get, but I didn't give up. But I've actually been able to interview United States Senator Rick Stroud for Parkinson's. I actually spoke at the county here in Palm Beach County, gave a speech on Parkinson's awareness, and I've had the city, the state and the governor now provide a proclamation declaring Florida Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month, in memory of my mother. I actually just wrote a letter to the President so you never know I mean it is election time Maybe he'll respond, so you can also be a part of that. So those are the ways to get involved.

Dr. Ackerman: 31:57

But I do have one last thing to leave you and your audience with. This is a message from us all but we love you, we support you, we care a lot about you. You're never alone. I will advocate for you and together our voices are so much stronger. And I'm just getting started.

Dr. Ackerman: 32:12

And I just say that because, like I said, every time I meet individuals that inspire me, like both of you and your show and your listeners, or I meet somebody live, like I did last Saturday, who's still struggling with Parkinson's, it re-energizes me to realize that I can't stop until we end this disease. And I feel if we had everyone on board, we would be so much closer to a cure. So, thank you, thank everyone listening Again. Please share this support, As I Live and Grieve, because we need more things like this out there to have a say and to have a voice, and just remember, everyone has a voice there to have a say and to have a voice, and just remember, everyone has a voice, and if I have to be the voice, I'll fight till we find a cure.

Kathy: 32:48

So thank you. Okay, and one more quick minute to tell us about your book.

Dr. Ackerman: 32:52

See, that's my proof that I'm not selling it. My book just came out, " . It's actually available now in hardcover, softcover ebook, and even hired someone that did an audio, because there are unfortunately people with Parkinson's who can't really speak anymore and might not be able to read because of the disease. So now someone will talk it to you.

Dr. Ackerman: 33:13

I would love to get it done in Spanish. I'm from New York, Brooklyn. My wife's Cuban. I need to get it interpreted. I put in Spanish because there's people around the world that I've met that want to read it or at least be involved. The book is important to me. It tells the journey of my mother and then it shifts to my caregiving and then to the advocacy today. So there is a lot of light from the darkness and the dark tunnel. I'm making some incredible people like you. Now. I consider family and finally the book takes you through the first signs of Parkinson's symptoms, my caregiving, and one very important area is my wife and my children. They've been my support. If it wasn't for them, I don't think I'd be here speaking today. It also goes through the. I have an interesting idea. All my mother's close friends and family wrote a little paragraph about my mother.

Dr. Ackerman: 34:03

Oh, oh, how beautiful and the last chapter which I'm most proud of is how grateful I am to so many like both of you, because if I didn't have the platform to voice my uh hope for a cure, then we might not have many people out there realizing they're not alone. So, again, just grateful for our time and once this is out, I'll add it to my side and we'll share it around the world. But, like I said before, like a broken record, I feel our voices are so much stronger together and I'm grateful for our time today and again, as I live right now, you're helping me grieve, and this is again to me not just about a talk or a show, but something that I hope will live on forever. So thank you.

Kathy: 34:43

Absolutely. You have said so many insightful things in this very brief time and it is truly brief. I know that we also have listeners around the world as well and, like you mentioned, you've seen one more statistic. I look at statistics for our podcast and right now we're in 101 countries around the world. I don't know how many countries there are, but that's a lot of countries. Perhaps out there somewhere is someone who is fluent in Spanish who would love to help you with that platform for your audiobook. What a wonderful gift that would be. So I'm just going to put that out there in the world, that if there's someone willing to help with that, what a great gift you would be giving.

Kathy: 35:24

George, you're doing incredible work. You have an incredible story and, even though new episodes go out for this podcast week after week after week, I always love it when we can really really get very, very specific, because I know that there are listeners out there sometimes that are thinking, oh, I'm just going to see what's the episode and all of a sudden it might be there. Oh, thinking, oh, I'm just going to see what's the episode and all of a sudden it might be there oh, parkinson's. Oh, I've got to listen to this and somewhere in the limited time that we have, we have lifted someone else up, and that just thrills me no end, with all those possibilities. So it is sadly time to say goodbye today.

Kathy: 36:04

I love that you now include us in your family, because I think family, extended family, our networks, they're critical to everything. And, man, I wish I had realized that 50 years ago, but I didn't. So all I can do now is take it from today, from this moment, and move forward with it. I am so pleased and so honored to be part of your family and I'm going to be ordering your book. It's going to be on my bookshelf very soon. I can't wait to read it. I know the listeners can't see it, but that cover is beautiful. What a great gift this would be for someone and okay, I talk about self-care. So take care of yourself and gift yourself this book. George, thanks so much for taking the time and to all our listeners out there, thanks for tuning in. We hope you come back again next week as we all continue to live and grieve.

Stephanie: 36:57

Thank you so much for listening with us today. Do you have a topic that you'd like us to cover or do you have a question from one of our episodes? Please email us at info at asiliveandgrievecom and let us know. We hope you will find a moment to leave a review, send an email and share with others. Join us next time as we continue to live and grieve together.