PUTTING PARKINSON’S IN PARK

Parkinson’s disease casts a dark shadow, but as a caregiver, Ed Baxter makes it a thin veil.

Ed sees right past the disease that leaves his wife, Anna, with limited mobility and persistent fatigue. His eyes instead penetrate right to her heart, a constant reminder that she’s a fully alive human being.

Life has been a wild ride since Anna was diagnosed in 2003, but the Baxters do not allow the disease to always steer their lives. In fact, the Leesburg couple, who married in 1994, continue to travel, attend Sunday church services, dine out once a month, and go to Southern gospel concerts.

“It’s nice to get out of the house and get away when we’re able to,” Ed says. “We don’t let the disease control our lives all the time. We make sure we can do things that we like doing as a couple. But I always remind her that if and when she doesn’t feel like doing things, we’ll scale back or not do them at all.”

While he maintains an upbeat attitude, Ed does not downplay the reality of his wife’s life-limiting condition. Anna suffers from loss of balance, cognitive dysfunction, and lack of stamina. A “pill alarm” goes off periodically to remind Anna to take one of her eight daily pills.

“The disease is progressive,” Anna says. “Every year there’s something I can no longer do that I could do the year before.”

Fortunately for Anna, traveling is not one of them. In fact, the Baxters spent several days in June seeing the picturesque sites at Colorado’s popular Estes Park. Two months prior to that, they visited both the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in Kentucky.

“When we were in Kentucky, I called ahead to secure a wheelchair, and I ended up pushing her around the facilities,” Ed says.

One of Anna’s favorite destinations is Siesta Key, where the couple enjoys an annual beach getaway in July. A beach wheelchair with large wheels allows her to soak up some rays.

“Whenever I’m at the beach, I feel like I’m home,” says Anna, a Sumter County native who spent 38 years as a teacher and guidance counselor.

When Anna is not traveling, she finds inner peace by helping others cope with life challenges.

“God is in control and has a purpose for everything,” she says. “I’m always looking for opportunities to encourage and minister people going through something similar. The Lord can use you to do good things even if you’re not 100 percent physically or mentally.”