Parkinson's Awareness Month:30 Days-30 Stories/Day Sixteen-Parkinson's and Dating
Dating in your 50's and up isn't easy. How do you meet people? Where can you find that special someone? When you add a chronic illness into the equation, it ups the difficulty.
Online dating sites certainly made romance easier. From the comfort of your own home you can peruse hundreds of potential mates.
My question is at what point do you bring up the fact that you have an illness? My answer is I still don't know. In the last couple of years, I've tried it a couple of different ways.
Last summer, I went out with two different women. Neither knew I have Parkinson's until the day of the date. They both found out in about the same way.
With woman #1, after a couple of weeks of exchanging emails and phone calls, we decided to meet for coffee. After a nice greeting, I went to the counter to get the food. I brought it back on a tray. I was shaky handling it and she helped me. I explained the situation. We had a nice couple of hours but when I asked to meet again, she said we would be better off as friends. Oh well...her loss.
A few weeks later, same situation, different woman. I brought the coffee back to the table and dropped it in her lap.
After I explained, she was gracious about the episode but that date was also a one and done deal. My loss.
I decided to change tactics. I became proactive about telling women I have PD. Two women, including one I knew from elsewhere and was already a friend, backed off. They both admitted they couldn't anything like that.
So now what? Like I said earlier...I'm not sure. I really don't know how and when to play the Parkinson's card.
I guess the answer is to play it by ear. Bring it up when it feels comfortable. Next!
Tomorrow- Boxing For Parkinson's