There’s Nothing Like Boys of Summer

There are wonderful films about Parkinson’s disease (PD). Important, brave, educational, and inspiring films. But there has never been another documentary series about PD like Boys of Summer. Four films spanning 22 years of lived history with this stupid, poorly understood, beast of a disease.

2004

We didn't set out to make history. We just kept coming back to tell more story, mostly because PD has refused to leave. Michael J. Fox has said his foundation is around until PD isn’t. Us too. 

On June 17th, 2004, my father and I hit the road with cameras, baseball tickets, and hope. He was diagnosed with PD in 2001. We decided to visit all 30 Major League Baseball parks in two months before the disease progressed further -- to do what we could while we could.

During the trip, we were told repeatedly that there would be a cure within ten years. My dad was 57 when he was diagnosed. He was active and vibrant. Like many young onset folks, he looked “normal” and people questioned if he even had PD. It's not that bad... (yet). So we just kept going. That first journey became the series’ opener, Boys of Summer: First Base.

2014

Over the next 22 years, the cameras kept rolling. It was never convenient or easy. It was often a matter of pure will. Of demanding to be seen and heard.

New life and death. Marriage. Caregiving.

Children growing up. Dreams changing shape.

Falls. Hospital visits. Arguments.

Inside jokes. Tiny victories. Devastating grief. Ridiculous humor.

We thought we were preserving time. The films slowly revealed we were observing its erosion. The good news is that love somehow deepens under pressure instead of collapsing from it.

Parkinson’s disease is not a single event. It’s not a tidy three-act structure. It’s a painfully long and drawn out negotiation between hope and reality. Between the person you were and the person you’re becoming. Between what’s lost, what remains, and, if you work at it, what’s newly, joyfully discovered.

Over two decades, we’ve shown my father transition from newly diagnosed, where some people questioned if he even had PD, to living in the advanced stages where it can no longer be hidden. We’ve shown our family adapting in real time. We’ve transformed optimism into something more durable: resilience.

And perhaps most importantly, we’ve watched how storytelling itself changes people. Both the audience and us. I recently got this email:

Hi Robert -- Your documentaries inspired my son and I to design a much smaller road trip to Major League Baseball parks.  Over six days, beginning May 30, we'll see the Orioles in Baltimore, the Mets in New York City, the Red Sox in Boston, the Yankees back in New York, and the Phillies in Philadelphia.  Along the way, we'll be joined by family and friends, all outfitted in Parkinson's regalia.  Nothing like what you and your father have done, but ours will still evoke the same fighting spirit and familial love.  Diagnosed in 2019 with Parkinson's, I have been wholly involved in Rock Steady Boxing classes and its loving community.  Rigorous exercise and the remarkable support and love from so many, I believe, has slowed the progression of my Parkinson's.  Robert, I send my best wishes to your Dad who, I know, is in the fight all the way.  

These films are bigger much than us. And we couldn't be more proud.

2020

The act of documenting this journey has forced us to pay attention, sometimes in ways we didn't want to. Every time my dad sees the latest film he’s surprised. The man on the screen doesn’t match the man in his head. By watching and rewatching, allowing time to pass, and watching yet again, we find depth and resonance in moments we otherwise may have rushed past. We’ve laughed when things became unbearable. We’ve confronted truths suddenly in ways we may not have said aloud otherwise.

There is still so much left to tell. Not just about PD, but about being human. A person with PD is a person first. Boys of Summer is a family story about time, what survives, and the extraordinary courage hidden inside ordinary moments. 

As we prepare to premiere Boys of Summer: Third Base at the World Parkinson Congress on May 27th, and we continue to get amazing feedback on the more than 30 screenings of Boys of Summer: Short Stop this year (a film that originally came out in 2020 -- 4.7/5 stars, 99% would recommend it to others), I find myself thinking about an observation my dad and I had on our first trip back in 2004 as we visited Fenway Park: We saw Boston’s gem as the epic baseball mecca against the wave of retro-classic new ballparks trying to appear timeless. We learned that meaningful history cannot be bought or built, it must be earned through time. Without realizing it, we kept showing up long enough to earn history ourselves, and all that comes with it. This is what makes Boys of Summer different: History. Context. Time.

2026

I feel a kinship with Michael J. Fox for the way and length of time he’s been out in front about his PD, too. He recently said, "no matter how much I sit here and talk to you about how I've philosophically accepted it and taken its weight, Parkinson's is still kicking my ass... I will lose."

My dad is in a wheelchair now full time, just as his first neurologist threatened, only six months into the diagnosis. Nice bedside, Doc. My dad now requires 24 hour care - though he’d argue otherwise. Regardless of what he looks like on the outside, he's still proud Dan Cochrane on the inside.

He proclaimed the importance of his independence in Short Stop, saying that he didn’t know if life would be worth living without it. And now he lives without it. 

So if we can’t beat PD (yet) -- What do we win now? Meaningful, memorable time spent with each other. A lifetime of love. Something that outlasts what the disease takes. A grand story to share with others so we all know how much stepping up to the plate matters. The feedback that says our story matters and still inspires.

Regardless of the outcome, we’ve got that. And it has to be enough.

You can watch the first three films by visiting our website, www.bosmovie.com. More information on how to see the latest film, Third Base, will come soon.