Q. What have you accomplished in your life that you're most proud of?
A. My weight loss journey… (It’s not a completed accomplishment yet) I spent more than half of my life overweight. In the last 10-ish years, I have been working on getting rid of the excess weight and bad habits to become a better – healthier version of myself.
Q. If you could take 3 months off and do whatever you wanted, what would that time look like?
A. I would go to Sicily to learn more about my Italian heritage from my mom’s side and then to France to learn about my French heritage from my dad’s side.
Q. How did you feel before you found TrAk?
A. Tired, weak, and uncoordinated.
Q. How do you feel now?
A. Motivated, strong, and like I can do anything I put my mind to. That is all thanks to the coaches here at TrAk. I worked out at another gym for 2 years before coming to this beautiful place. I never received the encouragement or instruction I do here.
Q. How has TrAk changed your everyday life?
A. After every class I feel energized and positive. I feel like the hardest part of my day is over and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. That sets me up for a great day.
Q. Best place to travel that you've ever been to?
A. I love Bar Harbor, Maine in the fall. It was my absolute favorite place to go until I went to Arizona this past summer. I could sit on top of any one of the mountains we hiked forever and not get bored.
Q. What personal failure has helped lead to your ultimate success?
A. My infertility. I took it as a sign that I was meant for other things. I spent 22 years fighting with health insurance companies to pay for tests, hospital, or nursing home stays so the patient didn’t have to. Now, for the past 13 years, I have been working with families to help them deal with the loss of their loved ones and plan a wonderful tribute to them. It took me a long time to realize God needed me to help others instead of children. Also, it’s one of the reasons I had a problem with my weight.
Q. What three people [living or dead] would you go camping with next weekend?
A. My best friends Cheryl and Laurie…. They both love me for who I am, and they love to do crazy adventures with me. Cheryl and I participated in 1 or 2 5k’s every single month in the year 2019. Neither one of us had ever trained for them nor had we ever run. But we had a blast pushing ourselves to do better with each race.
Spring of 2022 I decided I wanted to buy a bicycle and ride the towpath from Cleveland to New Philadelphia (not all in one day). I told Laurie my idea and she jumped on board and bought a bicycle with me and we spent our summer tracking some miles on our bikes and I am pretty sure we will accomplish that goal in 2023.
And the third would be my paternal grandmother. She passed away when I was 6 years old, so I never got to know her. She was born in France in 1903 and I would love to know more about her and what it was like to grow up in the early 1900s
Q. Which sport/activity would you love to do, but are afraid to?
A. Hockey! I love to watch it. I would love to try it but I’m scared of getting hit in the face with a stick or the puck. I also don’t know how to ice skate and am afraid to make a fool of myself.
Q. Funniest things you've seen your husband do?
A. I’m sorry, we have been together for 34 years and there are too many things to narrow it down to one.
Q. Favorite movie?
A. I have a couple, but right now my favorite is Dirty Dancing.
Q. Best piece of advice you've ever received?
A. “Think before you speak. Some words hurt worse than a punch and those wounds don’t always heal.”
Q. At what age were you in the best shape of your life?
A. 55 or I guess I should say 56 because my birthday is December 3rd. I smoked for over 30 years, so I was not healthy from my early 20s to my early 50s. But I am working on getting healthy and that is all that matters.
Q. Words to live by or favorite quote?
A. "We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort." - Jesse Owens
Q. What adventure do you plan to have in the future?
A. My husband is retiring in March 2023, so we are just now starting to plan some big adventures. I really would like to visit Yellowstone.
Q. Favorite book and why?
A. It’s a series. The Kay Scarpetti series by Patricia Cornwell.
Q. Something interesting we don't know about you?
A. I’m actually very shy. I also love to try exciting new things, just not hockey because that scares the dickens out of me.
Q. What do you like most about being a part of the TrAk Family?
A. The support and encouragement from the coaches and the 5 am crew. I love working out with every one of them. People I know say I am crazy for getting up so early and going to the gym every day (6 days a week). But I tell them it helps me destress and I would be a bear if I didn’t go.
Q. Biggest accomplishment at the gym?
A. 2022. I feel the whole year is a big accomplishment. In July 2021 I herniated 2 discs in my back and was on a walker for 10 weeks. Coming back to TrAk in November 2021 and making progress in my strength training is a huge success for me.
