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Mario was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014. Although not expected, the diagnosis didn’t stop Mario from living his life. Even from the day of he was told, he kept his humor and accepted it with open arms. The idea of a future problem was tomorrow’s issue and Mario lived in the present, belittling the disease and constantly joking. Unfortunately, the disease did begin to take its toll and Mario was forced into an early retirement since he could no longer perform his duties as needed. Over the next few years, Mario began to change in small ways, no longer volunteering and no longer being able to drive. However, the true change started after Mario was walking to get the mail and took a tumble down the stairs in front of his home. Luckily, a neighbor spotted the incident and his wife, Anna, was able to call 911. Mario had cracked his head requiring 14 stitches but miraculously no signs of a concussion. Although the medical equipment couldn’t tell anything changed, this event would cause a severe downward trajectory. Slowly but surely, Mario started to be unable to do normal tasks in day-to-day life. After a while he was no longer able to feed himself or keep his balance on his own. Despite the difficulties, he always tried to keep doing these normal traits but after a while things became more and more dangerous. With his change, the home needed to start changing. Carpets were removed, furniture was moved around, wheelchairs became more necessary and ramps were brought in to aid Mario in his daily life. Comical in every way, Mario would have several hours of silence only to break in with a one-liner that had everyone on the floor laughing. He maintained his work ethic by doing his “paperwork” which was simply a stack of random papers that he would push around. Every evolution or change in Mario’s abilities or behavior would be met with slight changes or adjustments in his home regiment. Mario was blessed to have a couple of dedicated aids over the years who naturally became attached to the kind yet challenging soul Mario had. He required so much help but was not shy to yell, take a swing at your face, or spit his pills right after receiving them. Mario had passion and a strong will, and no disease would take that from him.