In the early 1990s, Karen Chapdelaine applied for employment at Polk Community College (now Polk State College) in Winter Haven. She was hired as a temp to assist in updating some of the school’s outdated computer software. From there, one thing led to another. “Once I was on board at the college, I quickly advanced into supervisory positions in admissions […]

In the early 1980s, when Peggy Alesso was deciding on a career path, nursing and teaching were among the most common professions for women. Peggy opted for nursing, which she practiced for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2012. “Most of the time, I was a pediatric nurse,” Peggy elaborates. “I worked in a hospital, a doctor’s office and a […]

At age 57, Dr. Glen Fritz abandoned his South Texas dental practice and embarked on an adventure fit for an Indiana Jones film. His goal: find the location of the biblical Mount Sinai and the path the Israelites took to get there after their liberation from Egypt. Dr. Fritz’s quest was nothing short of a leap of faith, one that […]

Since her diagnosis in 1999, Evelyn* has battled chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL. It is a cancer that starts in special white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are produced in the marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones. In 2021, the 81-year-old was forced to take on a second enemy: COVID-19. “My CLL was being treated with powerful chemotherapy, which left […]

Jody Donnelly was in college studying to be a dental hygienist when one of Brevard County’s top-producing real estate agents approached her with a proposal. “He said I had a good personality and was really knowledgeable about the community because I grew up here,” Jody remembers. “He suggested I give real estate a try, so I shifted gears, attended real […]

The twist that Macy* puts on the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve was conceived by her grandmother, who might be stunned to learn what it could be leading to three generations later. “The story, according to my mom, is that my grandmother loaned her cookie sheets out to a group of ladies at her church,” […]

Many medical procedures – think reconstructive knee surgery, back surgery, or heart surgery – require weeks, if not months, of recovery time and rehabilitation before the patient begins to feel normal again. Cataract surgery is different. Most cataract patients begin to see better than they did prior to surgery within hours of the procedure, and that’s a big part of […]