Highlights

• PD Points
  In April 2017, Marion became the official Facilitator of Parkinson Canada's Downtown Parkinson Support Group (DPSG). "It's an honour," she says. "I'm lucky to have this opportunity and very fortunate in the strong support I get from Parkinson Canada."
  
  The DPSG, which meets in downtown Toronto once a month from September through June, is for people with Parkinson's and their carepartners.
  
  Marion began attending in 2012 with her husband, who was diagnosed with PD in January of that year. "It was an eye-opener from the start," she says. "We learned something useful or interesting at every Meeting. We've also met many wonderful people with fascinating backgrounds and textured lives. We always come away enlightened."
  
  Leading the Group is demanding, Marion says. The key to good results is, of course, thorough prep and timely follow-up. As with any significant volunteer commitment, however, the satisfactions are significant.
  
  For more, check "Parkinson's Changes Everything."
  
  
• Walking the Nostalgia Trail
  One of Marion's volunteer assignments morphed from being a hands-off marketing consultant to a hands-on newsletter contributor. She has always enjoyed writing what she thinks of sweetness and light pieces designed to bring smiles and nods of recognition. For delicious samples, click here.
  
  
• Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids
  Yes, they do, at live events held across the country by the GRTTWaKs team. The events, hosted by Dan Misener, are later broadcast on CBC Radio 1. The main rules are the writing has to be something done before age 18 and has to be read aloud by the person who wrote it. Marion, who is a huge GRTTWaK's fan, read a letter she wrote at age 11 to her 17-year-old sister. It's absolutely compelling….
  
  
• Reading, writing, running, radio…
  …and food. These are some of my favourite things. Which is what made Saturday, June 13th, 2015, such a special day. I was, as usual on a Saturday, at the historic St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto. It was a semi-sad day – the last for the Farmers' Market in the North Market building. The utilitarian concrete block was due for demolition and redevelopment (a work now in progress). The Saturday Farmers' Market had to move for the duration. So, a complicated day in both logistics and emotions….
  
  On that "last" Saturday, Martin Trainor's Come to the Market (CTTM) Internet Radio team talked to a cross-section of vendors and shoppers. Click here for the interview with me. (It runs about 3 minutes.)