My name is Rosario Strano. I met the love of my life, Judy Loker, in 2001. I moved to Arizona shortly thereafter, and we married in 2004 and began our life together.
Unfortunately, our dream was short-lived. Judy was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2013, and while it wasn’t our plan, it was my honor and privilege to care for Judy in our home throughout the course of the disease, until she passed away in October last year.
I struggled with the impact of it all; I still do, to this day. I wanted to fight back against the disease, overseeing every single moment of her day/night, activities, dietary needs and more. During all this, I felt this urge that we needed to do more to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and to help raise funds for research.
In 2019, I met Mary Hamway. She struck me as a beautiful, gentle person,and she helped me create a legacy for Judy, a specialty license plate dedicated to Alzheimer’s research. Governor Ducey signed the bill in 2020, authorizing the new plate. The ASU School of Design held a competition to create the drafts, and our panel chose the winning design. All the license plate proceeds benefit Alzheimer’s research through the Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium. To learn more about the license plate, go to adot.gov.
This beautiful legacy to my Judy was made possible because Mary Hamway and former Senator Kate Brophy McGee fought for this worthy cause. I will be forever grateful to Mary Hamway for putting together the team that created the license plate. Because of her connections and ability to get things done, I wholeheartedly support Mary Hamway as our mayor.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
