We
fell in love so fast! We were true best friends and have found a way to remain so…even after thirteen years. We
knew two things right away….that we loved each other and that we wanted to live a life giving back, by helping others.
We knew we wanted to find a great, small community where we could make a difference.
We have lived in and traveled to so many places. We lived in Galveston, Texas where
Justin worked as a Paramedic and I as a waitress in a local tourist spot. From there we moved to Yonkers,
New York so that he could get more experience as a Paramedic and I worked for my first non-profit social services agency.
Thankfully, Justin decided to go to college to study to be a Physician Assistant just months before 9-11.
He had thought of getting a job for the New York City Fire Department but changed his mind because he wanted to be
able to do more for patients medically. I have always felt blessed that he had returned to school because
I know in my heart that he would have perished responding to the devastation of the World Trade Center. I
know this because he did not waste a second responding, as fast as he could, to volunteer.
Six years ago we ended up in Maine, where we both attended graduate school at
the University of New England. I majored in Social Work and Justin studied to be a Physician Assistant. Justin applied for
and received a National Health Service Corps Scholarship. This not only allowed us to have enough money
to attend school together but would help us find a placement in a small, rural, underserved area. We were
both so excited about the aspects of finding a community that needed both of us. I completed my studies
in May of 2005 in time to travel with Justin during his clinical year. Justin’s clinical year consisted
of eight 6-week rotations that would take him to six towns in Maine (Fort Kent, Farmington, Winthrop, Harrington, Eastport
and Holton), Tennessee and Cedar City, Utah.
We found out we were going to have Daniel on December 13, 2005.
We were living in the small fishing village of Eastport, Maine. We loved this community.
Everyone was so welcoming to us. It was the perfect place to find out I was pregnant.
After leaving Eastport we went to Tennessee, back to Holton, Maine and finally to Cedar City, Utah.
During Justin’s clinical year and after graduation Justin interviewed for jobs in Wyoming, two towns in Arizona
and in Nevada. We would joke that the baby had more frequent flyer mileage before birth than most people
do in their lifetime. (Exactly 22033 miles!)
Justin accepted a job in the small, rural community of West Wendover,
Nevada. We decided to stay in New York over the summer to have Daniel. The closest hospital
to West Wendover is in Salt Lake City, 120 miles away. Justin simply did not want to deliver his baby in
the “wilds” of Nevada.
On September 11, 2007 we left New York to start our new life in
West Wendover. At first the isolation was so hard for us. Since it is 120 miles in any
direction to any other town, it felt like it took forever to get to “civilization.” We questioned
why we were sent to a town where initially it seemed that everyone wanted to see “the doctor.” After
Daniel’s diagnosis we learned the true reason we ended up in West Wendover. One of the leading SMA
researchers/specialist is right here in Salt Lake City. We feel blessed to be so close to Dr. Swoboda and
her team so that Daniel can get the best care available. We also found that West Wendover was such a supportive
community for us during our time of need (instead of the other way around). Our new friends have helped
to give us hope when we felt so lonely and so far from our families.
We spent two years in the West and moved back to
New England to be closer to family. We now live in Southern Vermont where Justin works as a family medicine/urgent care Phyiscian
Assistant.
