In memory of Danette Mendenhall

Dani and her husband were preparing for their next chapter in life when ALS hit. Their son was a senior in high school, their daughter was playing college soccer, Dani had started her own small business, and they were planning their retirement- the trips and adventures with family and friends that they were excited to take, and finally some time for each other.

I’ll never forget the day in May that I “knew” something was really wrong with Dani. We were meeting at the movies like we had for years, our little escape in the chaos of raising kids, jobs, life… I was already sitting in the theater when I got her text, “I am in the parking lot, but will only come in if you promise not to ask about my health”  I knew she had been to the neurologist and was anxious for the results, but I promised. We enjoyed the movie and hugged really tight when we left each other in the parking lot. I ran to my car to call my husband, my eternal optimist, he told me to prepare for the worst – I sat, cried and told myself we would get through it. I was not prepared to find out that Dani had ALS, the day after our kids graduated from high school. 

In January of 2014 Dani started noticing a difference in her speech. After numerous trips to doctors, a short stay in the hospital the diagnosis finally came. It was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I lost Dani 14 quick months after her diagnosis. Every step went too fast, we accepted one change only to have another come quickly behind it. I watched my beautiful, vivacious friend painfully lose her life. I loved her, fed her, bathed her, cried with her, and made her laugh every second I could. She so wanted to find a cure for ALS that she donated part of her brain to research. She wanted us to keep fighting for others to have that cure!