mary jo rapini
My story is my family are immigrants from Italy. I am number six of nine children. We ate all of our meals together and we ate good foods. I was an overweight child growing up as were several of my sisters. I was not comfortable with it. My mother was beautiful! She did have Morbid Obesity. She taught English Second Language Classes. My father was a laborerer. He was not as educated as my mother. When I grew up I noted how unhappy she was. She went to the doctor frequently, couldn't walk without pain, but yet...was successful in every other element of her life. Just....could not lose weight. I witnessed this, was sensitive to being teased about being "chubby" so I took matters into my own hands. I started running. I loved this and I was good enough to be on the track team at our school. This started a "lifestyle change" for me, which I continue in my own life as well as helping patients make life-style changes. It is very difficult but it is the key to making changes in our lives.
I never considered working with Obesity until 2003. I had a cerebral aneurysm, and I started thinking more about ways to give back(if you are interested in knowing more about this process please buy my book..."Is God Pink"). I started thinking more about my mother as my own body was healing. She died in 2001 shortly after my father died. I began to realize her struggle more when my own health had deterioated. I started working with Obesity at that time, and I will continue. Some people ask me if I am doing it for my mother. My reply is I am doing it for my mother now, because I can...as a child growing up I did not understand. I am sure that if she were alive now, she would be so grateful of all that we are doing to try and prevent obesity.
