When we first decided to participate in the MS Challenge Walk, we were walking for our mom. As children, we watched our mom suffer from the debilitating side effects of MS. First, the loss of her mobility; then, the use of her arms and hands followed by her speech and her sight.

After her ten-year battle with MS, she lost her life. As children, we felt powerless and hopeless. There was nothing we could do to save our mom. As adults, we made the decision to walk in her honor hoping that it would give us a sense of peace.

The walk has given us so much more! Today, we still walk for our mom but with a sense of hope — hope that there will be a cure. We walk knowing that when we return next year, there will be new research and better medication for people with MS, and that the 50 miles we walked helped to fund that research.

Today, we walk not only for our mom, but also for our MS family. We look forward to coming back each year, and we are truly thankful for the relationships we have built over the last three years as MS Challenge Walkers.

Tara has been participating in MS Challenge Walk since 2010 in honor of her mother, Susan, who was diagnosed with MS in 2003. Her mom is her greatest inspiration, and this is just one way team Sweaty Already, which consists of Tara, her twin sister Shelley and their respective husbands, gives strength to those with MS and their families each year. Tara lives in Halifax, Massachusetts with her husband, Brian, who has been walking alongside her at MS Challenge Walk since 2010.