Guest blogger Allison Smith describes herself this way: "I am a medical anomaly, advocate for people, freakishly smart, believer of unicorns, self-proclaimed addict of frozen yogurt, secretly a ninja and personally planning the assassination of Barbie...Oh and I have Parkinson's disease. If I could describe myself in one sentence, I wouldn't be blogging!" Find more of her entertaining posts at The Perky Parkie.

Editor's note: The anniversary of a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis can be a time to reflect. Allison chose to take a light-hearted, humorous approach in her letter to Young-onset Parkinson’s. How have you recognized diagnosis anniversaries? 

Today is my five-year anniversary of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. I wonder what Parkinson’s will give me to celebrate five years of having a committed relationship with it? Whoa… to think back to all the memorable moments that we have spent together… Priceless. I felt that the best way to celebrate our courtship was to write it a letter. So here goes:

Dear Parkinson’s,

Today we celebrate our fifth anniversary together. Even though we made it official on this day five years ago, I knew that you were apart of my life years before. I remember when I first noticed you. There you were, in my left pinky cramping up after the gym everyday. I played hard to get and pretended like you never existed. But don’t think for one minute that I didn’t see you when I couldn’t swing my left arm anymore. Oh man! You really got me on that one. Remember when I blamed sleeping on my arm? Heh, Heh! Then I found out it was you the whole time!

I almost went crazy when I started to trip over you. Dragging my left leg was a gift I never saw coming. It was then that I stopped playing coy and acknowledged you. Oh how we fought like cats and dogs, but somehow you never left me. Right when I thought I might have found a way to quit you, there you were at my door with a new goodie.

Then we made it official on March 18, 2010, when the neurologist said that we would be together forever and ever. My heart melted. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that we have our disagreements. Like when I want to go exercise and you just tell me I should sit on the couch and eat Hostess Cupcakes — the cream filling gets me every time. Or when I have a billion things to get done during the day, but you just keep slowing me down. Phfft.

By the way, I love the mask you gave me this year. The way it makes my eyes look like I just won the lottery. But I think that I will save that for Mardi Gras or maybe even Halloween. Oh and don’t forget one of our most memorable moments! When I laughed so hard I peed my pants… literally! Bwahahah! Wow! So many glorious times that we have shared, it’s hard to remember them all.

Well my dear, it has been a roller coaster ride with you. But I have a feeling you have strapped me in for the long haul. So maybe in the future you could go for the traditional gifts of wood or silverware?

Yours truly,

Perky Parkie~*