Bob Roberts (Poppa)

Parkinson’s disease for me is a very close to home disease. My grandpa (Poppa), Bob Roberts, had Parkinson’s. For me, doing this project brought up many stories and things that I didn’t know. One of the thing that I loved hearing was that one time my Poppa’s OT came and told him that they weren’t doing therapy that day- that they would just take the day off and play cards instead. For Poppa, that was great and so much better than having to do “therapy.” I loved the fact that the therapist knew my Poppa enough to know that he would rather play cards and that she took the time to get to know him as a person. I want to be a therapist like that- one who can make a therapy session fun and can make somebody feel like they are just getting a fun day off. Granted I know that sometimes that is not feasible for an activity everyday but it is still something that embraces the client’s occupations. Something else that having experienced did for me was made it so that you really understand how Parkinson’s can take away so much more than just your ability of doing something but it also can take away your personality and spirit.