I'm so honored and excited to say that I am running the 2023 TCS NYC Marathon in support of Partnership to End Addiction. Thank you for visiting my page and for your support in helping families find guidance and hope.

If you knew me growing up, you likely knew my dad. He was an incredible pillar of my life (obviously), but also of the greater Naples community. He was full of kindness and generosity and lived so much of his life in support of others around him. He was a champion for education - good education - for everyone and was always trying to learn something new himself, whether that be a new language like Arabic, obscure particle physics theories, or why he was stuck on the last clue of the Saturday Times crossword. Beyond all else, he was the best dad I could've asked for, for so many years.

My dad was many wonderful things, but he was also an addict. He lost his life to his addiction when I was 20 years old, a sophomore in college. I spent the last years of his life and the first few after he passed full of anger, shame, and guilt amongst the grief - emotions so often tied to addiction. It took a long time for me to recognize addiction as a disease and not a choice. I often avoid sharing details about my dad’s struggle, but I hope that by sharing my own story and journey through the grief and subsequent understanding, I can be a small part in helping to break the stigma of this disease.

I'm honored to get to run in memory of my dad and in honor of those working hard every day to fight their addiction, those supporting folks in their community who are struggling, and those with family or friends who are doing all they can to support their loved ones.
 
Before this year, I couldn’t run more than a mile without stopping. I guess you could say I take after my dad in learning new things, running being one of the big ones for me recently!

Thank you in advance for your support to such an incredible organization!