I'm running with Team ALS to honor my maternal grandmother, Rosalie Rotatori. She passed away too young from ALS, and her loss was devastating to our family. ALS is progressive, meaning it worsens in severity over time. It's a fatal neurodegenerative disease that destroys motor neurons in the brain, causing muscle weakness and atrophy, and the eventual loss of voluntary muscle use. Currently it has no known cure. 

For my grandma, the disease pretty quickly affected her swallowing muscles, which meant she had tremendous difficulty eating. She went to the hospital to get a feeding tube placed -- what should have been a relatively routine procedure -- but unfortunately she went into sepsis and passed away unexpectedly, less than one year after her ALS diagnosis.

My grandma was the rock of our family. The daughter of Italian immigrants and one of seven children, family meant everything to her. She and my grandpa had three kids of their own. She didn't have the opportunity to go to college after high school, but once her kids were older, she went on to graduate with her Bachelor's degree from Smith College (in her 50s no less!) and even went on to get a Master's in French. She was there for my siblings and me at every birthday, first communion, holiday, and life milestone. I think of her homemade pasta sauce often, and will absolutely be making it during my marathon training.

I'm running with Team ALS so one day, no family has to experience this kind of loss. Thank you for helping me achieve this. 

Together, We End ALS!​