The actor talks about his mother Phyllis, who passed away in September at the age of 92.
Throughout the course of his three decades of fighting Parkinson’s disease, Michael J. Fox has become renowned for his embracing of the power of optimism. He got it from his mother, Phyllis, who passed away in September at the age of 92.
“My mother lived a long and happy life. No lady was more revered, according to Fox, 61. She was a beautiful woman. You were certain that you would receive fair treatment. She also enjoyed laughing and did so frequently.
When he informed Phyllis in 1991 that he had Parkinson’s disease at the age of 29, she expressed concern.
Fox, who wed actress Tracy Pollan in 1988, continues, “I was still working TV and movies and developing a family when I founded the foundation. Their oldest child, Esmé, is 21 years old. Their twin daughters Aquinnah and Schuyler, all now 27 years old, and their son Sam, who is now 33, were born in 1995, 1995, and 1989, respectively.
She asked me how I managed it all, and I replied, “I just move on.” I don’t want to look back or bemoan the fact that something won’t happen. My mother behaved similarly. She would never account for the losses. She would weigh the advantages.
Fox draws lessons about resiliency from his early years spent with his mother and father, William, who passed away in 1990. Being military children (William served in the Canadian services for 25 years), Fox and his four siblings looked out for one another, and Phyllis served as the family’s unifying factor.
Army wives are experts at adapting, he claims. They simply know how to handle a new situation, put the house in order, set up the schools, and find a side job because military pay is little. As kids, we didn’t understand it. Now I realize.”
The actor, whose Michael J. Fox Foundation has donated more than $1.5 billion for Parkinson’s research, admits that the past year saw a number of blows to his armor of optimism, including fractures to his hand, shoulder, right arm, and elbow.
He is, however, cheerful today and is “rocking and rolling” as his recovery finally completes a full circle. The remainder of his wounds are just about finished healing, and his arm feels great, he claims. “It’s fascinating to live. You get what is seen here.
Fox uses a proverb he came up with after undergoing risky spinal cord surgery to remove a tumor from his spine in 2018.
“If I can find one small thing to be thankful for in everything I do and in any position I find myself in, it turns the whole thing around and opens the door for grace, for something beautiful to happen,” the actor says. It’s great because I’m just getting back into that flow.