Linda Ronstadt: Not quite ready to say goodbye

"I'm afraid of suffering, but I'm not afraid of dying."

Linda Ronstadt first noticed changes to her voice in 2000. By the time of her last performance in 2009, she said she was yelling, not singing. Four years later, Ronstadt revealed she had Parkinson's Disease. It's affected her vocal chords which makes it impossible for her to sing in the shower, much less perform in concert.

Every case of Parkinson's is different. Tremors and balance issues are the most commonly symptoms associated with P.D. Lesser known are problems with swallowing and vocal chords. For most of us, we can get around that and keep our lives somewhat normal. If you're a world renowned performer who has sold more than one-hundred million records world-wide, that's more than a little problematic. It was the end of Linda Ronstadt's career.

While not a recluse, Linda Ronstadt has stayed mostly out of the public eye since 2013. She spends most of the time at her home in San Francisco, doing a lot of reading. Occasionally, she'll make an appearance. In 2014, she accepted the National Medal of Arts award from then President Barack Obama. Last fall, she gave a talk, in Los Angeles, about her life and music. This week will be the release of her first live album. "Linda Ronstadt Live in Hollywwood" will have twelve songs from a 1980 concert. Those were the days when she was at her peak as a performer.

For Linda Ronstadt, dealing with Parkinson's means not taking for granted things she used to do without any thought. In her interview with CBS Sunday Morning she said,

"When you've been able to do certain things all your life, like put your shoes on and brush your teeth or whatever-when you can't do that, you sort of go...What's This? What's Happening here? You have to learn to ask people to help and that took a little doing.  I do that now, because I need the help."

One thing Ronstadt mentioned is something almost all Parkinson's patients are told upon being diagnosed: "They say people usually die with Parkinson's, not because of it. They don't always die of it because it's so slow-moving. So, I figure I'll die of something else."

Hopefully that's not too soon. While we may not hear her voice in song anymore, Linda Ronstadt still has a lot to offer. She's not ready to say good-bye. We aren't ready to say good-bye to her.

Related Post: I'm not a Parkinson's expert but

Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.