I woke up on the other side of the bed
a peculiar story was unraveling in my head.
I felt different than I had a few hours before
I had a very strange feeling as my feet hit the floor.
What’s different now, what can’t I see?
A turmoil was wresting deep inside of me
and I tried very hard not to let it take hold.
The difference, I would soon learn was you, as you began to unfold.
 
My body was rocking, it was streaming through the day
 I wanted to go right, but you wouldn’t show me the way.
You’re antsy as hell and I tried quickly to review
as you stole my slumber from night and the morning sunshine too.
The fingers on my left hand broke away from the crowd of ten.
With a mind of their own, try as I might, they would no longer hold the pen.
What’s this about, I had no answers other than being blind-sided by it all.
I never saw you coming, you threw a blazing hard ball.
You’re shaking a whole lot more today, more than ever before.
This ain’t no picnic, I’m at bloody war!
 
What did I do to deserve my plight of late?
I either came in too quickly or came in too late;
whatever it was I couldn’t get through the gate.
Surely no one deserves this cruel fate.
We all have our crosses to bear,
and we must not forget those who, our suffering, they share.
The ones who support and care for us every day,
It’s a hell of a task, watching us melt away.
 
There’s 1600 plus cases of Parkinson’s on Boston’s north shore, I’m told.
Here’s 1601, with me now in the fold.
We are shaking and our voices are breaking
every day we deal with unpredictability,
but we fight on as we search for a cure to free you and me.
 
Michael J Fox, a hero to me, he’s the man of the hour
he stands tall and erect; he has superstar power.
For thirty-one years he’s fought the great fight,
he leads us through the darkness giving us hope, showing us the light.
It’s a new day and I continue to dance to your song,
no one else may hear it, it’s no sing along.

You have ravaged my body, and I may seem frail,
this disease has seemingly put us in Parkinson’s jail.
My mind and my spirit you will never take hold
I will live each day to the fullest, I will live my life bold.
While the battle is still being fought,
my life will not be strangled by the Parkinson’s knot.
On you bloody Parkinson’s, I declare full on war!

He never thought he’d be an American hero
He was just an average guy,
It wasn’t in his plan to join, to fight, to die.
But duty called and rallied him
To leave it all behind, his job, his wife, his family life.
He traveled towards the sun
In the early years of the war
When the fighting had just begun.

His tour of duty passed slowly.
He learned war is ugly.
He saw things he couldn’t ever imagine.
He had stories that one day would need to be told.
He dreamed through the months
of the day he would go home.
To the country and family he loved
Is where his mind would most often roam.

Our soldier learned quickly
That it wasn’t what he thought it would be,
Fighting with the 172nd Mountain Infantry
And living by its motto, 'Ascend To Victory'.

Steadfast friends were made, forged on the battlefield during their tour;
A 'Band of Brothers' that can only be made in war.
He fought by their side each and every day
And watched many get injured and several 'blown away'.
A soldier’s plight is to fight, not to question why.
Why some who fought with him, had to fall and die.
His angst was more than anybody would ever know,
With each and every death, it took one more piece of his soul.
 
It was a split-second decision, made without hesitation,
To put himself in harm’s way, and save the life of his friend.
In an instant his death made him a hero and his wife a widow.
She can do nothing but cry, as she tries to make sense of it all.
Left with a child alone, every night she falls into bed,
Pulls the covers over her head and dreams that her hero has come home.
But when she wakes, crying a tear, she finds herself still alone.
 
Our American Heroes, we have a duty to them all.
Freedom has a dreadful price.
We can’t let them be vanquished into the darkness of the night.
Let us always remember them, and by them do what is right.