Finding Joy in the Small Moments
By Jeffrey & Mary Anne Woofter with assistance from Chat GPT
One of the lessons Mary Anne and I have learned on this journey with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is that life has a way of shrinking down. The big adventures, cross-country road trips, marathon workdays, late-night parties, don’t happen as often, or ever, anymore. What fills our days now are smaller things: a good meal together, a visit with family, a phone call from a friend, or even just a sunny afternoon on the porch.
And you know what? Those small things add up.
It’s easy, when living with chronic illness, to feel like the walls are closing in. There are physical limits, cognitive limits, and emotional limits that change what you can do and how you can do it. Sometimes I get frustrated. Sometimes I even get angry. I think back to the days when I could move faster, think sharper, and juggle more, and yes, I miss that.
But then I look across the room at Mary Anne. I see her smile. I hear her laugh, and I realize, this is enough. This is more than enough.
The truth is, joy doesn’t always come wrapped in big packages. Often, it sneaks in through the side door of everyday life: the smell of coffee in the morning, the sound of birds at the feeder, a grandchild’s snuggle, or the simple gift of holding hands with someone you love.
We can spend so much energy mourning what we’ve lost that we forget to celebrate what we still have. And if I’m honest, I fall into that trap more than I’d like to admit. However, Mary Anne, with her glass-half-full personality, keeps me grounded. She reminds me that today is a gift, no matter what challenges it carries.
We’ve found that humor helps too. Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s bring plenty of tough moments, but they also bring funny ones. When I can’t get my fork to cooperate, or Mary Anne forgets the word for “remote control” and calls it the “thingamajig,” we could cry, or we could laugh. More often than not, we choose laughter.
So if there’s one thing we’d like to pass along, it’s this: don’t overlook the small joys. Don’t wait for a perfect day, or a perfect season, or a perfect version of yourself to be happy. Look around right now. Find one thing, just one, that brings a smile to your face. Then hold onto it.
Life isn’t always easy. Some days it’s downright hard. But even in the hardest seasons, there are little blessings waiting to be noticed. Mary Anne and I are learning, day by day, to notice them.
And we hope you will too.
