My journey to "Lister Events" began in March 2020, the same week my city went into lockdown due to COVID-19, and I started breast cancer treatment.

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I was working full-time as a music therapist in hospice, regularly driving the empty streets of Boston to visit patients dying of diseases like cancer, while also fighting cancer myself.​ With my bald head hidden in a wrap, my illness was invisible to all but my loved ones and those I told directly.

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Together with a strong group of friends both near and far and a COVID-19 pod dedicated to movement and community (#MMHouse), I was able to overcome barriers. I practiced cartwheels, handstands, back tucks, back handsprings, salsa, bachata, and above all how to modify any exercise to make it accessible to myself and those around me. @morethanapinkribbon was born in part because of them.

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"Lister Events" now comes on the heels of lessons I learned from people who saw beyond my visible and invisible barriers when I did not, after teaching others how to modify movement to make it more accessible for themselves and others, and after seeing the impact that one changed perspective can have on a life and hopefully one day a whole community.

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My greatest lesson learned?

Everybody is different. Every body is different.
I am different, and that will help me, not stop me.

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