Magda walked into one of my Zumba classes almost 3 years ago. I didn't know anything about her, nor did she about me... as far as I was concerned, she was just another student. I eventually left where I was then working to open up my own business.... the doors opened for the first time, and there she was again. Still, as far as I was concerned, she was just another student.... As time progressed, I started to notice there was something different about her... yet I couldn't quite put my finger on it. One day she was bubbly and smiling and the next, quiet and solemn.
Long story short... we became friends... good friends... and then the news. Magda was suffering from the auto immune disease: Lupus. She was constantly in and out of the hospital, sometimes after being there for days. Eventually she had to shave her head due to her hair loss from chemotherapy, and her doctors were not confident with her progress... but what they WERE confident with was that "whatever it was that she was doing" ... to keep on doing it... which meant to keep coming back to reMIX (my fitness studio) and working hard to keep her body strong, and ALIVE.
Aside from this story, I have had my own struggles. My mother abandoned my in my early teen years and left me basically out on the street. But I made it. I battled demons along the way, but I made it. When I walked into Periwinkle Boutique with my now 2 year old daughter and saw the giving keys, I was ear to ear! What a great way to give back. I read the card about giving it away and at first I thought about just keeping it... I purchased the HOPE key... why? bc I ALWAYS had hope and never gave up... but then after I bought it and brought it home, I thought about it again... wrapped it up, and gave it to Magda in class that night.
Her strength and discipline is to be admired and no matter how sick she gets, she NEVER gives up hope.
