Visiting her grandparents’ home today is a much different experience for freshman Mackenzie Silva than it was just a couple of years ago. Medical equipment has slowly migrated into the various rooms,...
![“[The most influential person in my life] I would say [is] my papa. He has this disease called CADASIL where he is basically shutting down. I don't know how to explain it, but my dad likes to say that it's [similar to] a whole house. You can see the whole house is working, but you don't know that an outlet is not working. And slowly if that outlet doesn't work another outlet doesn't work. And then it's just this effect that is slowly shutting [him] down. Right now he's on hospice, and it's hard seeing and talking to him because I know that he would be there for me if I was struggling. It's hard to see him how he is now. I look up to him because he's one of the greatest people I know. He was always the first person to jump up and [say], ‘I'll help you.’ He did it with happiness, and I have a lot of good memories with him.” – Mackenzie Silva, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ksilva-1-900x675.jpeg)
