Cocktails for a Cause Video (resubmitted)

     Below is a link to my video shown at the Parkinson's Cocktails for a Cause.  This video will soon be added to my YouTube page, once I figure out how to download it.

     Thank you again for all your support!!

Cocktails for a Cause Video

A three hour tour…….

Wickford Harbor storm clouds 

No matter the weather, Bob Preston is happiest when hanging out on his boat.  I tagged along for my first adventure on Family Ties 2!

Bob invited some work colleagues for a tour of Newport harbor, but as we were departing the dark clouds started moving in. We also realized we the same ratio of men and woman as “Gilligan’s Island”, some laughter soon followed as we decided who would be the skipper, MaryAnn and Ginger…… Not to worry, Bob reassured us that the trip would be uneventful !

 

Everyone took turns sitting next to Bob in the captains chair to get the lowdown on how he was steering the boat. Bob said "he was hardly

doing anything but following his instruments", which by the way looked like an very complicated arrangement of pretty screens!

 Family Ties coasted through Narragansett Bay effortlessly as we enjoyed some pizza and cold beer. Even with the rain you could still sense Bob’s passion for sharing his boat and love for the water. Not a bad way to spend an evening, thanks for getting us back to Wickford safely  J

Sandi MacLeod

Bob Preston stays the course in Parkinson’s fight!

Bob Preston feels better than he did a year ago.

“I feel better mentally and physically. Is it the mind fooling the body? If it is, I’ll take it.”
His prescription? Take your disease to sea. Sail where the spirit of the day takes you. Anchor in waters like the ones off the Grand Bahamas that are so clear you can look 20 feet down and see everything.
“It’s the biggest, cleanest fish tank you’ve ever seen.”

Sit on the deck at night and look up at the stars through pollution-free air.
“The stars at night are beyond description. It’s so clear it’s as if you can reach out and touch the Milky Way.”

And talk to people. Sail into a place never visited before, flying the flag that declares this the “Optimism Can Take You Anywhere Tour,” and start some conversation.
“We’d just start chatting it up,” says Preston. “People are incredibly friendly.”

It is about five years since Preston learned he has Parkin-son’s disease. It has slowed some things down, but taken away very little. He insists on giving up no more than he absolutely has to to the disease that affects more than 1,300 families in Rhode Island alone.
“I fight it tooth and nail,” he says.

Four years ago, he and his brother Bill decided to sell The Preston Agency in East Greenwich, the business they had built and for which Bob continued to work into last year. That cleared the way for this wonderful journey that Bob and his wife, Becky, took, the one that began in northern Maine in July of last year and ended back home in Narragansett in April. It took them to the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and Abaco Islands, even to the Everglades. And it took them to places at the water’s edge where they talked to a lot of people about why they were there.

Before setting sail aboard his 37-foot The Back Cove, he set three basic goals: Raise awareness about Parkinson’s disease; demonstrate the importance of a positive attitude when dealing with a chronic disease; and “raise a few bucks” for the Rhode Island chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association.
The trip exceeded expectations, he said. It was an 11 out of 10.

“If anything, it gave me more energy, more focus.”
And it gave the Parkinson Disease Association $160,000, a figure Preston hopes to raise to $200,000 with a few more appeals back home.
“All the money raised was one-on-one with people,” he says.

The Parkinson Disease Association is a very good place for people to go to begin dealing with the disease, says Preston. Go to riapda.org.

Coming up next? Another trip, probably late next year. Preston is thinking about a bigger boat with a greater range to take him and Becky to more new places where they can drop anchor, look down into the sea and up into the sky, and talk to people.

They probably won’t have a set itinerary for the next trip just as they had none for the trip just completed. They never knew exactly where they would go on a given day and that seemed to work just fine.
“I’d get up in the morning and ask the admiral, ‘What do you want to do?’ We had no schedule for nine months.”

Article by:  Bob Kerr
bkerr@providencejournal.com (401) 277-7252

http://ireader.olivesoftware.com/Olive/iReader/ProvidenceJournalWithAuth/SharedArticle.ashx?document=TPJ%5C2012%5C06%5C06&article=Ar00401

What I would say to a room filled with friends and family!

Despite having an incurable, progressive disease…I wouldn't trade places with anyone, thanks mainly to their love and support! I could list things I’ve lost since acquiring this insidious disease, but not a single one comes to mind! The list of things I’ve gained is greater.  I’ve learned to live in the moment, be happy and not worry about what tomorrow will bring. Something I didn't always do! I’d thank everyone in my life for treating me as they always did.  I’m still the punky little sister who loves to tease and make people laugh.  I’ve been given the gift of time-“time” to be available for my kids, neighbors, family and friends.  Even though I’m teased for being on the go, I’m busy living the life I’ve always wanted… A day filled with longer lunches, longer hours at the gym, longer naps at acupuncture and the time to sit and appreciate the pretty day and think about how lucky I am!

“Thank you for being in my life” is what I would say to my friends and family, “thank you from the bottom of my heart, I love you all…… “

Walking my girlfriends dog on Dennis Beach, Cape Cod

 Sandi Macleod 6/6/13

IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

Twice today people that know me well asked when I was going to stop working and & "act retired". Though I no longer work in the insurance industry I do volunteer for the AMERICAN PARKINSON's DISEASE ASSOCIATION doing various things.  But what I put by far the most effort into is Funding a Cure and patient support.  Why such efforts? 

 Is it simply, for example,  to keep this OPTIMISMTOUR.BLOGSPOT.COM  going by typing this note, one finger, one letter at a time at 10.00pm, while absolutely dog-tired to help us develop a following for our mission to spread awareness? Nope!  How about this same effort creates public awareness, which leads to both public funding and $$$ for research and a cure?   Nope!  

Why not retire, coast, take it easy? Not a chance!  Why????

Because during lunch this same day I saw a very good friend and fellow Parki struggling with symptoms.  I can't see  that friend struggling and then look myself in the mirror and say 'Now's the time to quit my efforts!!'' 

IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

If you can help at any level, go to RIAPDA.ORG and follow the "OPTIMISM CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE!" links.  Every dollar you donate will be DOUBLED by a matching grant.  Your $5 becomes $10.  $20 donation becomes $40, and every cent goes to Patient Support Services.  See, it's simple.

Most of all and to each of you, simply:  BE WELL!!!

Bob Preston