When my mom was diagnosed with ALS it was after so many tests to rule out everything else...in her case, ALS affected her voice first. My mom and I had always been close, we spent so much time on the phone chatting, since I lived away from home, ALS robbed me of the phone conversations and the laughter over the phone lines. As the disease progressed we lost the laughter and voice in person too. Texting and messaging allowed communication, but so much was lost with the intonations and inflections of conversation, so much is said between words, and ALS stole those intricacies of our conversations. My mom also liked to hum. So many memories of my mom humming as she did dishes, cooked, worked in the garden, etc, and one day she realized she couldnt hum anymore.
My mom was always greeting people with a smile that reached deep into their soul. She always found the best in people and offered them friendship no matter what, well except if you said something against one of her kids, then look out for momma bear. So why the name Stormy then, she never showed a temper, the story goes she was born on a stormy night, all her life, her siblings called her Stormy and all the nieces and nephews called her Aunt Stormy.
My mom taught me so many lessons through my life, and she taught me to be tough, as she continued to smile and live with grace as ALS robbed her of mobility and independence. I walk to defeat ALS, because I do not want anyone to have to watch their mother, father, sister, brother, friend etc go through this horrible progression of this disease.

I walk to remember my mom, Maryella "Stormy" Hagman. She battled ALS for over a decade and continually graced us with a smile filled with more love and joy than any of the words that she could no longer speak, so I walk to give a voice to all those without one. She lost the battle in March 2020 before a cure. Please consider joining my Team and joining us on walk day in person or virtually!

Thank you for helping me reach my Walk to Defeat ALS(R) fundraising goal!