To this point, my mom says I started walking at around 8 months. I have always wanted to ‘get to it!’ Even while attending Emerson college and living in a brownstone dorm in the heart of Boston, I couldn’t wait to get the heck out. I wanted to go and live my dream. At the time, I was dating my now husband Keven, and he would chuckle at how ready I was. I remember him asking me why I wanted to make it so bad. Now this may sound like a pageant answer, and by the way, I won a pageant (Miss Massachusetts Teen USA) by saying that my most prized possession was my dad’s hugs (cue the judges and audience crying). But it was true, and so was this – “I want to give my parents the life they never had.” Truth is, I watched my parents struggle hard. Cleaning multiple nightclubs, apartment buildings and offices. My dad was sick with Type 1 Diabetes and because of the language barrier, I believe it was harder for him and my mom to figure it out. He never cheated with sugar, but he was so afraid of eating high carbs or sugars of any kind combined with all the physical labor he was doing, that his blood sugars would constantly drop to dangerously low levels. He slipped into many low blood sugar comas and was very close to death on more than one occasion. Our lives revolved around keeping him alive. We literally all lived in daily fear with EMTs constantly at the house rushing him to the hospital only for him to rip IVs out and go back to work. Nothing stopped him from work. Something I learned and repeated. Along the way, my dad, upon learning Keven and I were dating, disowned me because he wasn’t Greek. It was a terrible time but I had to set my boundaries. No one was going to tell me who to love. It’s my life. So for almost two years, I was shunned. My mom would still talk to me, God bless her, but my dad and I were in a stalemate. Who would give? Eventually he did. And he apologized. Now we joke that he loves Keven more than me! And he has somehow survived and accepted the fact that we didn’t get married until after 20 years of being together and we have still yet to produce grandchildren! Imagine that. (Even though I’m obedient, I’m a rebel. Listen to my Deepak Chopra episode about polarity-we are everything. Obedient and rebellious. Mean and kind. So fascinating and liberating once you understand! https://youtu.be/O-w6J5xCJlM)All this to say, there were a lot of painful moments mixed with my dreams coming true. It was confusing but I just kept rolling with it. For me, the real dream came true when I bought my parents their first car (I have audio of my mom seeing it pull into their driveway with a big bow and her voice screaming “oh my God”), buying them a house, bringing them everywhere (like Jimmy Kimmel’s show or The Ellen DeGeneres Show or the red carpet). For me, none of it was worth anything without them to enjoy it with. Friends, life changes in an instant. I remember hosting on the set of E! News laughing and giggling one day and the next getting the call from my dad that my mom was airlifted to a hospital with a brain tumor. My life changed that day, and continued to change in more ways than I would have ever imagined. Mom was officially diagnosed with Glioblastoma, stage four brain cancer. I immediately jumped into producer/quarterback mode and got my mom set with neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Black at Cedars , oncologist Dr. Jeremy Rudnick and Dr. Amin Mirhadi On radiology. It was terrifying and the statistics were even scarier but I was focused on figuring this out and keeping her alive.Months later, after suffering from massive headaches, ear pain and slurred speech, I too was diagnosed with a brain tumor. A benign one called a meningioma. What are the odds? Well, the top brain tumor researcher said it was like lightning striking twice in the same place. No genetic connection. So life got even crazier as I, too, had to have brain surgery with Dr. Keith black and on my birthday, no less.I saw it all as a rebirth. I needed to change my life. I had been an overworked workaholic who took care of everyone but myself and it was time for changes. My show “Heal Squad x Maria Menounos” was born to help me and my mom, and anyone who wanted to come on the journey to get better in all areas of life. In particular, I focused on the areas I believe we needed the most: how to heal from traumas and anxiety, how to redefine success so we don’t kill ourselves in pursuit of it, how to learn to say no, how to be compassionate with ourselves, how to re-raise ourselves, how to know we are enough etc. It’s a journey that has helped my life immensely, and from what I hear from our audience, it’s doing the same for them as well. This all has led me to this higher purpose: one of healing and helping. I’m grateful for my tumor because I see it as the gift that released me from a life I didn’t want anymore but didn’t know how to get out of. Now, I hope I can help others do the same without getting a tumor or any other illness, disease or ailment. As for my greatest achievement, after being a Type A, overachiever my whole life and having accomplished a lot of cool things in the entertainment world and beyond, I have to say it has been, and will always be, taking care of my mom and helping her beat the odds. With glioblastoma, you usually hear 6-12 months. My mom got almost five years and had many wonderful experiences. She would still be here if she hadn’t gotten COVID which prevented her from receiving further cancer treatments. Everyone has their time and when my mom’s came, I was by her side every step of the way. She got a beautiful and peaceful exit, by no coincidence, on Greek Easter, May 2, 2021. I know she is with me to this day as your passed loved ones are with you. Anyway, I hope this gives you a little understanding of who I am and why I feel I’m here. I hope I can be helpful in your journey. We truly are better together :)