DONNA SHARES HER STORY

Donna is leading a busy but satisfying life these days, happily married to Karl for 44 years now, helping their daughter plan her wedding, marking nearly three decades of employment at the same company, and, oh yeah, taking Buddy out for a walk twice a day.

It’s a good life for this 65-year-old lady from the New Jersey township of Maple Shade just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Donna is staying busy in her inside sales job serving the baked goods industry, and still finding time to focus on helping her daughter plan her wedding ceremony.

Walking Buddy is something else on Donna’s to-do list, but it’s a twice-daily responsibility that not only gets her out of the house for a little exercise, it gives the nine-pound Chihuahua a chance to greet all the four-legged and two-legged denizens of Maple Shade he and Donna might encounter. In an important way, the multi-tasking life that Donna lives is a direct reflection of the message she remembers from her mother.

“Mom always stressed the value and importance of giving, like the prayer says, it’s in giving that we receive,” Donna says, then quickly adds, “Oh, and be sure to have lots of fun along the way!”

She and Karl have always tried to find time for some fun in their busy lives. For instance, they have spent a lot of time camping in the vast wilderness of the New Jersey Pinelands. But those days are pretty much behind them now, part of the couple’s treasured memories.

It was Donna’s own memory that began to slip a bit about two years ago. Donna shared her concerns with her daughter and eventually found Prevagen. “It has really helped me,” she says.

For a woman with a lot on her mind, Donna’s life is looking pretty wonderful these days. And when she’s out walking Buddy, all she really has to remember is to tell Buddy, “Slow down, big boy!”