There are eight of us girls that have been friends for over 20 years and in all those years there have been moments of joy, tears, laughs, struggles and happiness. We have celebrated marriages, the birth of our children, loved ones who have passed and everything in between. We have always been there for one another regardless of life’s obstacles, so when Kristyn suddenly fell ill we all pulled together to help out. She suddenly had blurred vision out of one eye and didn’t think much of it but went to the doctor and began a list of tests. Not long after, she was diagnosed with MS and began the process to understand the disease and start treatment. She has since been on medication which has helped manage her symptoms. I must admit we didn’t know much about the disease and we immediately went into panic mode and had moments of fear and pure uncertainty of her future, her struggles to come and how her two daughters and husband will handle this news. The more research we did and the more we talked to people we noticed the huge amount of support and love in the community and realized that there was something that we could do for our dear friend and that is to make people aware of the disease and donate our time and money to help with research and fund treatments for people in need.

This will be the third year we’ve participated at the MS Walk at Legoland, Carlsbad CA. Our team consists of our children, husbands, parents, friends, co-workers and others living with the disease. With every year our team grows and the outpour of support is incredible. There is no longer fear of the disease or fear for our friend, it’s made all of our friendships so much stronger and we know that there is nothing we can’t face and overcome.