I have always believed that things happen for a reason and while these reasons don’t often appear to make sense to us, some do from the very beginning and meeting two very special people was one of those times.

In April 2007, I was able to go back to my country (Italy) for three amazing weeks and I was able to go to Assisi, a beautiful and spiritual place in Umbria, very dear to my heart.
After coming back to the States, on a sunny day in the month of May, with my husband Keith, I went to the New Jersey Botanical Garden.
Flowers have been a joy in my life since I was a little girl when I would work in the garden with my father and when I would learn to respect and to love nature.
Every time I go somewhere, I always try to visit the gardens on my path.
While walking in an area of the garden where we noticed a cute, little brown rabbit scurrying around, two women started talking to us.

Something just clicked between us and we felt comfortable with each other right away, so much so that it came natural to me, after receiving compliments for my ability to cook, to garden and to be quite crafty, to tell them about my MS.
I shared my dreams and my goals for the future, I shared with them my desire to help and to raise awareness for MS and funds for research and I shared with them the first steps that I had taken to do so, which was to write my story to friends, family members and to various companies.
They learned about the struggles that I had been faced with since the beginning of my disease and they simply listened.

The two women asked us to spend more time together, which we did, walking around the garden and talking.
One of the two was holding a camera while talking to me and was taking photos of some of the flowers that we were seeing and the other one found herself often talking to my husband Keith.

or some reason, I felt like I belonged with them.
Opening my heart to them seemed just as natural as breathing. I felt a strong connection between us and I knew that they were put on my path for a very special reason.

From that day on, one of the two women sent me e-mails every single day.

Every day, I was able to connect with her in some ways and I would read the messages full of hope, filled with understanding, strength, determination and wisdom.
I would receive the most beautiful and most meaningful prayers and I would receive information about healing, natural remedies, alternative medicine.
I would read it all and let my mind absorb it until it became a part of my new lifestyle.
I would receive the most beautiful pictures of flowers and I would send her some photos of the flowers of my garden, which she would touch up with the computer and send them back to me, impressing me even more.
We would share in many ways the love we felt for nature and that made me feel closer to her more and more each and every day.