After watching the latest symposium on the computer, I got to meet all of them and I got to learn about their work, their dedication and their commitment to finding a cure for many serious neurological diseases.

In the past few months, while working on raising money for Dr. Calabresi and finally reaching a total of 7,290 dollars, I have been able to dream about going to Johns Hopkins and meeting some of my “heroes”.
Like I have explained many times to my Italian friends, society seems to like to make our idols, the wrong type of people.
Actors, singers, sports athletes seem to become more important that the real idols, the ones that don’t entertain us, but the ones that HELP US.
I do believe that working at saving lives and at bettering the lives of sick people deserves more attention than a perfect acting role in a movie…and I have completely changed my philosophy about this and I am making sure that people of this caliber and with this type of carreer, will be recognized, even if it’s only by me!
Since the beginning, even if I had never met them, I made sure to write to them and thank them for what they are trying to do and I am making sure that they know they are appreciated.

Well, I felt that I had to tell you all of this before explaining my visit to Johns Hopkins and, because most of you are from this country, I won’t talk about how the hospital itself impressed me and how I liked some of the style of the buildings and how I felt in walking around them, observing people, watching every little detail and taking everything in…because you probably know what I am talking about.
While there is always people in a hurry, it seems that a lot of them find the time to stop to smile at someone or to say hello or to give a hug to someone they know and I enjoyed seeing the kindness of some of them just like I enjoyed realizing that I was finally at Johns Hopkins and that I had just made another dream come true.

A couple of months ago, after trying to collect more donations for my fundraiser, I got to get in contact with the person that works at Johns Hopkins and that raises money for Peter Calabresi and for his work.
We spoke on the phone, we e-mailed each other many times and we became friends.
She was the person that welcomed me to Johns Hopkins.
She thanked me for my work and for my efforts, she invited Keith and I to lunch and she brought me a couple of the best gifts that I have ever received!
One was a t-shirt of Project Restore, which was created to raise funds and bring awareness to MS and to Transverse Myelitis, a sticker with the name of the hospital, which I had requested for another project of mine, and the latest research articles that Calabresi, Kerr and Greenberg wrote.
During lunch, we talked and shared ideas and thoughts, I was able to ask many questions and to learn more about what’s being studied right this moment by all the scientists.
After lunch, I received a tour of the old part of the hospital, which is incredible and where I was finally able to see a painting of Mr. Johns Hopkins, the wealthy Quaker merchant that founded and created this amazing medical institution.