Wellness walk

“My family has a real connection to Parkinson’s Disease,” observes Melissa Dunn, Waseca resident and County Pioneer writer. “If there’s something I can do to help contribute to a cure, I’m glad to do it.”

Dunn’s maternal grandmother, Dorothy Ohmann, was diagnosed with “early onset” Parkinson’s disease at age 40, when Dunn was an infant.  Dorothy’s uncle, Rudolfh Stoll,  was also diagnosed at an unknown early age for Parkinson’s. Both lived with the disease for decades, gradually losing mobility and muscle control until eventually succumbing in their early 70’s.  Later, in Dunn’s young adulthood, her mother’s sister, Susan Groff, was diagnosed with “early onset” Parkinson’s at age 50 and passed away at age 65.

“We can’t help asking ourselves who’s going to be next,” she says.

It is the memory of what her family members experienced which motivated Dunn to join a fundraiser being sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Actor Fox founded the organization in 2000; he had been diagnosed at age 29 in 1991. Dunn says she is impressed by the impact Fox’s foundation has had, and so occasionally takes a few moments to look through its website.

“I saw that there was a fundraiser that’s just right for me,” Dunn said.

The objective is to find friends and family members willing to support a 30-mile “marathon” of dog walking carried out over a few weeks’ time in the month of April. Dunn decided that she and her cream-colored dachshund Wallace would do their part.

Wallace, along with Dunn’s other dogs Shelby and Otto, has gained minor celebrity status in Dunn’s Pioneer column, “Always Looking Up.”  The regular feature shares the antics and eccentricities of the animals who occupy the hearts and home of Dunn and her husband, Dave.

Dunn jokes that, with Wallace as company, the 30 miles that she could walk in 7 hours may take 30 or more. 

True to the personality Dunn has told about in her columns, Wallace views a “walk” as more of a “meander,” with scents, pedestrians, other dogs, and various mystery sightings to be considered or explored. Then there are the dance-like steps required as Dunn disentangles herself from Wallace’s leash, which has a way of wrapping itself around her legs as the explorations draw her charge from one side of the trail to the other.

“We’re not efficient,” she admits, “but we’re determined.”

For now, with the weather having finally shown signs of cooperating, she and Wallace are in their “training” phase, still finding the synchrony that comes with practice and experience–or at least learning to watch out for wrapped leashes. Finding sponsors is also underway.

In the meantime, their walks are a reminder to Dunn to remain grateful for the mobility and independence she continues to enjoy. She recalls the tightened muscles, tremors, and gradual loss of faculties experienced by her family members almost as though they were a vicious attack.

“Finding a cure wouldn’t be ‘revenge’ exactly,” she observes. “But it would mean other people’s loved ones never have to go through those indignities and losses.”

Donations can be made to Team Wallace & Melissa’s 30 mile dog walk at https://www.facebook.com/donate/899426134410146/