30. One Year Later

Just one year ago I was in Tanzania, Africa with a team of nine individuals who were destined to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research. I think about my climb almost every day of my life. My reflections vary from day to day. Sometimes I think about the beauty of the natural features in the four climate zones we had to trek through. The scrubby brush of the moorland was speckled with beautiful flowers and fun rock formations. Even in the desolation of the alpine desert and arctic zones there was great beauty. The sunrise at over 18,000 ft. was spectacular! The view of the world below from 19,341 ft. was breathtaking. The flowers and vegetation particularly around the oases were very pretty. The rain forest with it’s dense greenery and moss hanging from the limbs and the black and white colobus monkeys were unusual and fun. The clarity of the stars at night was awesome and made me feel small yet very connected to the universe at the same time. The feeling of reaching the summit at 19,341 ft. was overwhelming and exhilerating. I felt like I had been awarded an Olympic gold medal. But at other times I reflect on how arduous the week of camping in small tents, using primitive toileting equipment, sleeping on a thin pad and dealing with the ever present dust was. Hiking in thin air was very taxing and on summit night it was freezing cold. Sometimes, I relive how difficult it was to breathe while climbing steep grades covered in scree.

But, I feel the part of the trek that has stayed with me the most is the level of comraderie that I developed with the other 8 hikers and with the crew. Our group of 9 has stayed in close touch with each other all year and frequently text one another. Some of us have gotten together in person to reminisce and share time together. We fondly call ourselves the “Kili 9”. Four of us are planning to be together on August 14, the one year anniversary of reaching summit. I’m sure we will have fun recalling various aspects and moments of our climb. We’ll undoubtedly talk about events in our lives over the past year and plans for the coming year. The bonds of the relationships are very strong and offer a high level of support. Many of us have stayed in contact with certain key members of our crew. Jo even organized getting some of the crew into guide school and English classes so they could apply to guide school. She also organized getting a huge amount of clothing and gear to our guides and porters who so kindly took great care of us on our expedition.

I continue to be involved with the Fox Foundation. I participated in a 10K at Walt Disney World on it’s behalf this past January with plans to do so again this coming January. We were honored to be the keynote feature at their MVP Awards Gala event held in NYC this past April. I remain in touch with some of the staff at the Fox Foundation. Who knows. I may do another climb with them next year but not Kilimanjaro again. I’ve been there and done that.

I have given presentations of my climb to various groups with more scheduled. People have been very receptive to my story and have been very supportive. I will continue to advocate for those affected by Parkinson’s disease. I also continue to plan weekly hikes for my group of hikers. It has been an incredible year of life changing experiences. I will continue to live life fully and vibrantly as long as I can. I just need to remember to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Thanks to all who have supported me in many ways as I travel this journey with Parkinsons’ Disease. May each of you find your way to live life to the fullest.

© Copyright 2024. Lucretia Pintacuda. All rights reserved. 

I’m still fundraising so if you feel impressed to contribute to my campaign here’s the link:

https://give.michaeljfox.org/fundraiser/5438589