The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 34

PEARL FU:
FACING HER BIGGEST CHALLENGE
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAN SMITH

PARKINSON'S DISEASE HAS SLOWED DOWN THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF LOCAL
COLORS, BUT EXERCISE KEEPS HER GOING.

T

HERE IS A DISTINCT contradiction to Pearl Fu these days.
First comes the sunny, optimistic, talky, energetic and
accomplished Roanoke icon, known and loved widely.
Then, there is the realist who, for the past 20 years,
has battled Parkinson's Disease, a debilitating and often depressing
condition.
Pearl Fu has spent the better part of the last 25 years inspiring people
in the Roanoke Valley and beyond with her humanity and her efforts
at inclusion. Today, that uncommon energy is focused on the strange,
perplexing and often devastating opponent that is Parkinson's.
Her life, she says, has become "a complete opposite" of the lively,
social, go-everywhere, do-everything woman she was only a short few
years ago. "I wish I could still do those things. My mind wants to, but
my body won't listen."
More than a million Americans confront Parkinson's daily, some
34

MARCH/APRIL 2019

with great grace and strength-as does Pearl Fu.
The immigrant from China is loath to discuss
her age but suffice to say she is well into Social
Security territory and her treatment for the
physically debilitating disease centers around
her daily exercise regimen, mostly at Roanoke's
Kirk YMCA, where she takes water exercise, yoga
classes and lifts weights.
These classes have replaced the social life she
once so loved and she puts the same energy into
the six-days-a-week classes she did in Local Colors
or any of the other organizations she worked with
and for. "I was always active with daily exercise,"
she says, but today there is an importance-even
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The Roanoker - March/April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - March/April 2019

The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - Intro
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - Cover1
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - Cover2
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 3
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 4
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 5
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 6
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 7
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 8
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 9
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The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay1
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay2
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay3
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay4
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay5
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay6
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay7
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay8
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay9
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay10
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay11
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay12
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay13
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay14
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay15
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay16
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay17
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay18
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay19
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay20
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay21
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay22
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay23
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay24
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay25
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay26
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay27
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The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay29
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay30
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - DDay31
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The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - Cover3
The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - Cover4
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