By Jay Dixon
j-dixon.1@onu.edu
Don McKinley has had Parkinson’s Disease for 38 years.
The best medication for Parkinson’s?
“Never give in to it,” says Don.
Early in his life, Don would kiss women on the cheek as a greeting. When Don abruptly stopped kissing them, people began to think something might be wrong.
Don became more irritable, his mind began to wander, and people noticed a conglomeration of small changes; they would say he was “a bit off.” He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in his early forties.
The disease progressed quickly, and Don was forced to stop working. He owned McKinley Sewer Service, which he operated for nearly 30 years.
“I had most of the companies in Lima tied up,” he said.
Despite being able to walk for only a few feet without assistance and stand for only 20 seconds or so, Don remained active, doing work around his house and yard. People began to become accustomed to driving past and seeing Don lying on the ground or sitting in the yard, working on the drainage system in his yard or pulling weeds.
Don likes to reminisce. As he tells his life story his eyes glaze over and he stares into the distance. Wisps of white hair cling to the top of his head, often covered by a large cowboy hat. He is short and thin, and sits hunched over in his motorized wheel chair. On the back of the chair there is a bumper sticker. It reads: “Parkinson’s is not for sissies.”
Don dropped out of Central High School in Lima after the 11th grade. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Navy.
Don spent 13 years in the Navy, hopping from ship to ship and from port to port to educate crews about ordering and maintaining food and supplies.
It was during this time that Vivian, Don’s eventual wife, would begin working for his father. Don struck up a written correspondence with her. He intended to come home from the Navy and get to know her better, but his mother and sister had other ideas. They decided Don and Vivian were meant for each other and should be married.
Don and Vivian dated for three weeks before being married. They were married 62 years when Vivian died this past September.
Shortly after Vivian died Don moved out of his house and into the Wyngate nursing home.
“I’m Ann Landers here,” Don says. “I’m giving everyone advice.”
Another man with Parkinson’s, Bob, has learned a lot from Don. When Bob entered the nursing home he sat in his room and watched TV and surfed the Internet. He refused to get a motorized wheelchair, and didn’t associate with anyone. He had surrendered to the disease.
Don taught him how to fight it.
Some of Don’s advice to Bob: never give in to it. Never let it hold you back. Only the strong can deal with it. Fight it with love.
It was hard for Don to lose Vivian. Conflict with his daughters erupted with her death, as they faulted him for her lung cancer. Don is a heavy smoker, but so was Vivian.
Don was depressed and suffered alone in his home.
Don seems to be at peace now, with Vivian’s passing and with his new home. He complains about the food and about the sad state of the euchre competition and about the depression of some of his peers. What keeps Don going, though, is the fight.
The reason he’s been able to fight the disease this long?
“I’m too stubborn and bull-headed to give in to it,” he says.