I want to share an exchange of emails with you.
A couple of days ago, Danny Loney, a Parkinson activist and our Tai Chi teacher, forwarded me a chain of correspondence with Dayel, one of the founders of Rock Steady Boxing.
Here’s the letter Dayel sent to Danny:
Hi Danny,
How are you and Naomi doing? I hope all is well and you’re keeping a few paces ahead of Parkie!
There is a women in Indianapolis right now getting her RSB coach certification. I haven’t spoken with her yet, but she’s interested in my Israel contacts. Can I give her your email?
Dayel
And here’s Danny response:
Hi Dayel,
Good News! We now have a boxing program for Parkinson’s here in Jerusalem. Do you remember Debbie Shapiro? She is the woman who didn’t want her picture included in the class that you taught because of religious reasons. Anyway, both she and I went to the WPC in Portland. She came back all fired up and set up a non-profit organization offering a myriad of activities including a boxing program for men. Below is a link to an article in the Jerusalem Post about the program:
https://www.tikvah4parkinson.org/single-post/2017/07/30/Punching-Parkinson
We are also interested is starting a women’s program, so yes, please give your contact my email address. And thanks for the lesson that you gave here which introduced us to this wonderful program and your continued support, encouraging us to keep moving.
Danny
Dayel responded:
I am smiling ear to ear!!!!
At that point, Danny then sent me a copy of the correspondence.
Never being one to keep my mouth shut, or my hands idle 😊 I put in my two cents and send the following email to both Daley and Danny:
The woman must be Ilene Spark. She decided to take the course in Indianapolis after reading the article in the POST. She was so excited about the idea, and she called me up to ask (!) if she could volunteer for Tikvah teaching boxing! As soon as she comes back, we’ll organize a group for her! I couldn’t do it before ’cause she had no idea what her schedule would be.
She tried to convince me to join her in taking the program!
It’s a wonderful world!
ds
Dayel responded:
It is her!! I am so proud of this great thing you are doing, Debbie!
It’s an answer to my prayers for the people of Jerusalem. Many blessings as you work together to fight back against PD.
I’ll so glad I know this good news!
Best,
Dayel
To which I responded:
Ah….now I understand it. I couldn’t figure out why we had such incredible success!
Thank you for your prayers. They obviously made a real impact.
Debbie
I am still in awe at the whole sequence of events! People have been praying for us! Amazing! And thank you!
