Heart disease has been part of our family’s story for most of my adult life.

My husband’s heart journey started when he was only 23 years old and needed an aortic valve replacement. That surgery saved his life, but it wasn’t the end of his heart story. Because of his valve, he has been on blood thinners ever since and will be for the rest of his life. It means regular monitoring, being careful with medications and injuries, and always having his heart health somewhere in the back of our minds. It has simply become part of our life together.

Years later, we found ourselves facing heart surgery again, only this time it was our son. At just 20 years old, he also needed an aortic valve replacement. Watching my husband go through heart surgery was scary, but watching our son go through it was a completely different kind of fear.

His recovery wasn’t easy either. He had complications after surgery, and even after everything he went through, his heart journey still isn’t over. He continues to live with an aortic dissection that has to be monitored. We are very thankful for how far he has come, but as his mom, there is always that worry that never completely goes away.

For our family, heart disease isn’t something that happened once and was over. It has been years of surgeries, medications, appointments, tests, waiting, worrying, praying, and being thankful for every bit of good news along the way.

That is why I walk.

I walk for my husband, who has lived with his heart condition and everything that comes with it for all these years. I walk for my son, who has already been through more with his heart than anyone should have to go through at such a young age. And now, I walk for our grandchildren too in the hopes they never have to experience what we have.

I hope the research being done today brings better treatments, better outcomes, and more answers for families like ours. Most of all, I hope it means a healthier future for the generations of our family still to come.

This one is personal. These are my people, and they are the reason I walk. â¤ï¸