When I first started walking on behalf of Maria's Sisters in 2014, my mother had been battling Alzheimer's for about 10 years. Her older sister Rocchina had died earlier that year with Alzheimer's and her middle sister Natalia was in the mid-stages of the disease. I felt helpless and needed to do something to gain some control of the situation and raising monies and awareness was something I could attempt to do.

Since then, my Aunt Natalia has passed away and my mother continues to bravely battle the disease. 

But the big revelation is the increasing number of family and friends who also have loved ones going down this same devastating path.

And yet, there is still no detection, effective treatment, cure or detection. 

We must make it stop.