Cir was born in Ohio and moved to New Jersey when he was only 8 months old. I was born in Ohio and except for a couple years in New Jersey, have lived most of my life in NE Ohio. We moved back to Ohio when I first born was 8 months old - go figure.

The year before the birth of our third child in '92 was also the year Cir was officially diagnosed with MS. He was in his early 30's then. He'd had symptoms as far back as his teens, but no one connected the symptoms to MS.

We also have two older children; a daughter, 28 and a son, 25. Our youngest is now 17 and we've also been blessed with a beautiful 4 year old granddaughter (but more about her later).

Our oldest two children grew up with a dad who could still run and play with them. By the time our youngest daughter was walking really well, her dad was using a cane, a rollator, a wheelchair, and eventually an electric scooter. And he now has an electric wheelchair he uses around the house. She does have a few memories of him running with her when she was very little.

Like most couples, we've been through some pretty rough spots in our relationship. One thing that helps us make it through, though is our commitment to each other.

We have often wondered why couples drift apart and then ultimately break up when faced with an illness or other traumatic event. When we married, we made a commitment to be there for each other. No matter what happened. In sickness and in health. For richer or poorer.

We'll both admit there were days when the thread that held us together was pretty thin. But it never broke. We never let Cir's illness or anything, for that matter, break us apart. Neither one of us can imagine living without the other in our lives.

We also have a passion for those who have to deal with this disease. We hate what it does to families and couples. We hope this website can help you come to terms with what you will have to deal with in the days to come. Or help make sense of what has already happened in your life.

Hopefully you will find inspiration from our experiences that will help you continue to live a full life, in spite of this disease.

We look forward to receiving your comments or questions. And most of all, please enjoy our site. To read more about why we started our website, grab your favorite beverage, get comfortable and click here.

Akrista and Cir

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