For the last 40 years my family and I have been residents of North Barrington. Next month I turn 70, and I still feel pretty young. I’ve been working for the last 40 years for Saint-Gobain Abrasives where I’ve been in the middle of a largely male dominated industry.
My husband, Al, and I have been married for 40 years. While I’m retiring this year, he loves his periodontal practice (and patients). We are charter members of the Club at Wynstone, and proud parents of our daughter Dina Marie.
This is also the year I was diagnosed with FSHD (facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy), a rare, slowly progressive genetic disease that affects the muscles of the face, shoulders, upper arms, and lower legs. These muscles weaken and shrink (atrophy). For the last 10 years I have seen doctors across Chicago, Minnesota, Utah, California and Colorado before finally receiving my diagnosis in January.
I now have a new reality, far different than the one I planned for retirement. Now I am dedicated to help raise awareness, funds, and support for this rare disease that has really hit home for me.
On Saturday September 28 at Citizens’ Park in Barrington the annual FSHD Walk & Roll will be held. This is the yearly fundraiser for the Chicago chapter of the FSHD Society. The community is invited to join my team, “Joanne’s Warriors,” to raise much needed funding for research, cures and community support.
Learn more, donate and register at FSHD Society.org (select Chicago Chapter).