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Since graduation from
MHC I have lived in 4 different residences (2 apartments and
2 homes) all within 5 miles of where I grew up, which either
says I don’t like change or I love where I grew up. In
actuality, both are true. My husband Jumper is from the
same area and both our mothers and our 4 siblings live
locally - in the western suburbs of Philadelphia.
Virtually all of my
working life I have been associated with our local YMCA
(which happens to be one of the 3 largest in the US). Having
been a religion/sociology major at MHC, and having lots of
YMCA and YWCA experience before and during college, my home
town YMCA seemed to be a good place to apply for my first
job. I started immediately after college as the Summer
Daycamp Director and one of several year round Program
Directors. After 8 years, I took time off to raise our 2
children. Our son Chris is now 29 and getting married in 2
months, and our daughter Cinda is 25. They both live locally
(Chris and his fiancée are 2 miles away and Cinda is 18
miles away in downtown Philadelphia).
After years of
volunteering at the kids’ schools, in our township and
neighborhood, I returned to the paid workforce as the Chief
Administrator at a fitness training company that was
conveniently housed and supported by the same YMCA where I
had previously worked. In fact, my boss had been one of my
summer daycampers when I’d been a counselor there during
college. I have been with Fitness Trainers Inc (FTI) now
for 18 years. I love my job, which has always been part
time (approximately 25 hours/week), and love our staff of
20+ and particularly my boss. He is one of the most
principled, compassionate and motivational people I know; it
is truly an honor to work for FTI. In addition to our staff
working with healthy people to reach their fitness goals, we
have a program called Fighting Back which helps raise funds
to train close to 100 people whose insurance has ended and
who have had life changing illnesses or injuries. I am
inspired every day I go to work by our clients, many of whom
are in wheelchairs or have traumatic brain injuries.
Jumper and I just
celebrated our 33rd anniversary earlier this
month. I feel very lucky, for several reasons. Mostly
because he is an exceptional man- with the biggest heart of
anyone I know, but mostly because I almost lost him earlier
this year. He was running by himself, outside on a cold
January day in the Pocono Mountains in PA where we have a
second home, when he collapsed and suffered sudden cardiac
death. If it hadn’t been for some strangers who found him on
the side of the road, collapsed in a snow bank, called 911,
performed CPR several times (his heart kept stopping),
wrapped him in a blanket, put oxygen on him (one of the 4
cars driving by just HAPPENED to have oxygen in her car)—if
it hadn’t been for them and the action they took, the result
would be different, despite 2 ambulances arriving. Jumper
technically died 5 times. The sequence of events is nothing
short of miraculous. His doctors have said he is a walking
miracle. He has made a full and complete recovery. He has a
stent and pacemaker/defibrillator to prove he went to the
other side and back, but he has no brain damage or heart
damage. He was diagnosed with a cardiac electrical condition
called Long QT syndrome. 4 months of cardiac therapy ends
next week. I’m grateful he’s alive and well and back to
being the same man I’ve loved for 33 years.
I’ve always been the
type of person who appreciates all the little moments in
life, like hearing birds singing, or seeing deer in our
backyard , or watching a rainbow appear in the sky, or
sitting on our deck and listening to the sound of the
waterfall in our pond. I’ve always been a believer in
miracles and have a great deal of faith, but it was very
humbling to experience and witness a miracle firsthand.
I will never be the same
again and I will always be thankful for every one in my life
and that includes my dear friends from MHC!
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