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Name: Joy Lorch
When I Joined the Movement: When Kurt, my husband, was diagnosed, in 1996.
Occupation: Firefighter
Hobbies: Kurt was an avid cyclist and I was a runner, and we adopted each other’s loves. The kids were kind of born in the little Burley behind our bike, and now they run mini marathons with us.
What movement means to me: Kurt has episodes that knock us on our heinies, but the people in the MS movement always chill us out. They’ve been a blessing and we can’t imagine our lives without them.
One thing I’ve learned about MS that I want to tell you: It’s not the end of the world. We have chosen to suck every ounce of good out of our situation to make ourselves better people and touch other people’s lives.
What I’ve done to Join the Movement: When Kurt was first diagnosed we knew no one. We chose to plug ourselves in, and did Walk MS. The first year it was just the five of us. The next year, we had 150 people on our team. Then 250, then 370, then 525, and last year, 700-something.
Favorite vacation spot: Wherever the Society has its Tour of Champions conference. The kids feel like we’re getting together with extended family every year.
What I’m doing: Distributing Walk MS t-shirts at the Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place that lets us set up camp for the week. Then we ask people to stay and eat because the team gets 15%.