Page created by: Julie Oh Ybarra

Dong-Bahng told the family she had Parkinson's when she was in her late 50s. Her symptoms later got diagnosed as Parkinson's uglier sibling, Multiple System Atrophy. She passed in 2008 at the young age of 65 years old.

Before she did, the Ybarra Five had the good fortune of living with her on Baldwin Farms North during our Hickory Drive house renovations. She had been on bed rest for a year and recently had a feeding tube inserted. I'm telling you this because she was not supposed to EAT food. But she was not one to strictly follow rules, especially if they impeded with her enjoying herself! She had a stash of chocolates in her bed, and Maggie knew this. Maggie was ONE years old -- much too young to be eating chocolate! Maggie is ALSO one to enjoy herself. Much to everyone's chagrin, er probably just mine, the two bandits would cuddle and sneak chocolates in the sunny makeshift ground floor bedroom on Baldwin Farms North.

Aside from chocolates and her grandchildren, she loved fine art, reading books (trash and lit), gossiping with friends and decadent shopping sprees. She collected spoons from the, dare I say, hundreds places she visited with Dad, often with Seung-Taek, Chung-Taek and me in tow. I've been told she was a pretty good tennis player and even better lunch partner. I'm sure she would have never imagined her life in American suburbia after growing up as a Korean Diplomat Brat, freezing in luxury in Mongolia (or so the Aunties have told me).

I wonder if I've inherited some of her good taste and enjoyments of a connoisseur life. I wonder if I'll get her Parkinson's. I wonder if my children, or nephews and nieces, will get Parkinson's. I do know we can try to find a cure and even maybe eradicate it some day. Please help. Thank you.