For those who may not know, it has been a year since I was diagnosed with ALS.

ALS has been part of my family for generations. I have lost about 80% of my family to this disease, including my mom and my sister, as well as my grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousins. Today, I also have two cousins actively fighting ALS.

So for me, this is deeply personal.

ALS has changed so much about our lives, but it has not changed our hope.

This year, our family is participating in the Walk ALS to raise awareness, support families living with this disease, and help fund the research that is changing what an ALS diagnosis can mean.

I know personally what that generosity can do.

Because people before us walked, donated, raised money, and supported ALS research, new treatments have become possible. Those advances have directly affected my life. They have given me hope and helped me regain mobility. I no longer have to wear leg or ankle braces, and I’ve been able to put my cane aside.

And shhhhh…don’t tell my doctor, but I can even wear flip-flops as long as I walk really, really slow….🙄😝

But most importantly, these advances have given me something far more precious—more time with the people I love.

Their generosity helped give me more tomorrows.

When you are living with ALS, more tomorrows mean everything.

That is why this walk means so much to me. We are walking for those we have lost, for those fighting ALS today, for the families who walk beside them every day, and for the research that may someday make ALS a disease that families like mine no longer have to fear.

So I am asking for your help. Would you please consider making a donation to our Walk ALS team?

It does not matter how large or small the donation is. Every dollar helps fund the research and support that can change someone’s life. I am living proof that the generosity of people I may never meet can give someone else more time.

Someone donated before they knew my name, and their generosity helped make treatments possible that are benefiting me today. Your donation could help do the same for the next person diagnosed with ALS.

We walk because research brings hope.

We walk because generosity changes lives.

We walk in memory of those we have lost and in support of those still fighting.

And we walk because someday, we believe, ALS will have a cure.

Please consider donating and becoming part of that hope.

Thank you to everyone who has walked beside me and my family—and thank you to those whose generosity has already given me more tomorrows.