My name is Mara, and I’ve been living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for 24 years. But my story began long before I ever heard those words. As a child, I struggled to read and focus in school. I was diagnosed with learning differences like dyslexia and ADD, and while others seemed to move through life with ease, I often felt like I was fighting twice as hard just to keep up.

At 8 years old, I broke my arm falling from a jungle gym. Looking back, I now see that these early physical and learning challenges were signs that something deeper was happening in my body. But I didn’t know that yet.

As I grew older, strange symptoms would come and go-numbness, stiffness, overwhelming fatigue but I kept them to myself. I pushed through school, moved cities, worked multiple jobs, and tried to live a “normal” life. Then, at 22, everything changed. My body gave out in a way I couldn’t ignore. After years of misdiagnoses, a compassionate doctor finally gave me the answer I didn’t know I was waiting for: You have MS.

I was scared. I was alone. And I was forced to rebuild my life from that moment on.

Over the years, MS has challenged me in every way. I’ve had to learn to walk again, give up my dream of having children, and accept that my body has limits. But I’ve also discovered something powerful, my strength, my discipline, my commitment to move passed the pain into purpose.