Take Your Time

"Take your time." Those words carried through the Ritters Frozen Custard Restaurant from somewhere behind me.

Take your time. What kindness and comfort those three little words carried. I tried to discreetly locate the source of the conversation. My curiosity was satisfied when I located a table of three women eating together; two were probably in their sixties, and one was very old by any measure. The oldest woman still had at least half a hamburger, several fries, and a drink remaining, while the other two women seemed to have finished eating.

Take your time. I could only imagine what had been left unsaid.

"Take your time, Mom. Finish your food -- you need the nourishment."

"Take your time, Aunt Pearl. I'm enjoying your company, and I don't want it to end. I don't know how many more times you'll feel like coming out with us to eat."

"Take your time, Grandma. You're not keeping me from anything today. This day is for you."

"Take your time" is personal for me. As a Parkinson's patient, I'm slow. I'm slow walking, slow eating, slow thinking at times, slow pulling my chair to the table, slow unfolding my napkin and silverware, and slow at just about everything you can think of. Parkinson's Disease robs you of your coordination and causes you to take longer doing things than normal people do. And we PD patients are very aware that we're slow. I, for one, am embarrassed by it. In social situations and in business environments, I am increasingly aware of my inability to keep up with my peers, and it makes me uncomfortable. I find myself searching faces around the table to see who might have noticed.

"Take your time," might be the kindest phrase you could offer to me or someone like me. Put us at ease, assure us no one is being held up by our slowness, make us so comfortable that we don't think about it again. Don't make us apologize and explain. It's embarrassing. Don't let others put us on the spot about it.

Please...just tell me I can take my time, and help me save face. I'll be eternally grateful!