For the past few years, including this year, you’ll find me walking the track at Doyle Field in my hometown of Leominster, Massachusetts, surrounded by friends, family, coworkers, and many of my mom’s lifelong friends. It’s one of my favorite days of the year, not because it’s easy, but because it’s filled with love, hope, and purpose. It’s the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s National Walk Day on Saturday, September 26.

As the team captain of Miles in Mariann’s Memory, I walk to honor my mom

In September 2017, my mom, Mariann, was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Before her diagnosis, she was an active first-grade teacher who adored her students, loved her family fiercely, and was the person you could always count on.

Everything changed so quickly.

Supplemental oxygen became part of her everyday life. Simple things that most of us never think twice about - like walking the track at Doyle Field - became exhausting. She started medication to help slow the progression of the disease, but just seven months after her diagnosis, on April 16, 2018, we said goodbye.

Losing my mom changed me forever. It also gave me a mission.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a disease many people have never even heard of until it affects someone they love. It happened to us. And that’s one of the reasons I continue to share my mom’s story. Every conversation creates awareness. Every donation supports research. Every person who joins the walk helps bring us one step closer to better treatments—and hopefully, someday, a cure.

What started as a small team has grown every year.

Friends, family, former colleagues, and many of my mom’s friends now join me each September for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s National Walk Day. Through social media, fundraising events, and the incredible generosity of so many people, we’ve been able to make a real impact.

I’m also incredibly grateful to work for a company that truly believes in giving back. The culture of volunteering, fundraising, and supporting causes that matter has meant so much to me, and my coworkers have been wonderfully supportive of this mission.

Our hometown has stepped up, too. The City of Leominster has lit City Hall in blue during Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month, helping shine a light—literally and figuratively—on a disease that deserves more attention. Last year, Mayor Dean Mazzarella even joined us at Doyle Field to welcome everyone and kick off our walk. Seeing our community rally around this cause has been incredibly meaningful.

Every year when Team Miles in Mariann’s Memory gathers at Doyle Field, I wish my mom could see it. I wish she could see the sea of blue shirts, the hugs between old friends, and the people who show up simply because they want to help. I think she’d be overwhelmed—in the best possible way.

This year, I’m dreaming even bigger.

I hope we have our largest team yet. I hope we raise more money than ever before. I hope we introduce even more people to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation and the incredible work they do. Most of all, I hope we continue building a community that gives hope and support to families facing this disease today.

People often thank me for organizing the team, but the truth is, I couldn’t do it without every single person who walks beside me, donates, shares a fundraiser, or simply takes the time to learn about pulmonary fibrosis.

I can’t change what happened to my mom, but I can keep saying her name. I can keep telling her story. I can keep raising awareness, raising funds, and believing that someday another family will have a different outcome than ours.

That’s why I walk.

And as long as there’s work to be done, I’ll keep walking.

If you’d like to walk alongside me and others in the PF community, National Walk Day is a great way to get involved. You can walk on your own, build a team with family and friends, or support someone who is walking. Learn more and register today!