This testament is In loving memory of one of the most amazing angels that God has ever called home. 

Anna Mazzola 

I could talk all day about the unconditional love, the caring and heartfelt kindness that Anna had continually exemplified throughout her entire life, but to be honest, there are no words that would fully capture the impact that this amazing woman has had on this Earth.

Being one of 10 Italian immigrant children to come to this country at the very early age of eight years old, she learned very quickly how hard and unfair the world can be, but that never broke her spirit nor her willingness to persevere. Coming from meager beginnings, was not enough to alter Anna’s  incomparable love for this beautiful country and a deeper love, and respect, for all of her friends and family throughout her entire life. 

One day this beautiful woman walked into my life and our love story began.

This love story lasted for 52 incredible and wonderful years, until God called her home on 11/15/2022.

This love story created three beautiful children and eight incredible grandchildren. Our life together has always consisted of unconditional love and unforgettable memories, with an excitement for the future and the new memories it would bring. 

This was my life with Anna, until one fateful day in late September of 2022. 

While at home, and paying some bills online, (something Anna had done countless times before) she turned to me and said, “Hank, I forgot how to pay these bills, and I don’t know what to do”. 

That was basically the beginning, as I recall, of Anna’s cognitive decline starting to surface.

The next incident happened at a restaurant, when she showed a loss of interest in reading the menu and I had to order for her. Additionally, when the bill came, she told me that if she had to pay this bill, she wouldn’t know what to do, what tip to leave, or how to use the credit card.

That day was an extremely devastating day for me, because it showed Anna’s condition was becoming more critical and severe.

In the days that followed, Anna forgot how to use her mobile phone, how to write, how to spell, and even started having trouble remembering words. She had trouble doing simple tasks around the house, and even forgot how to cook certain foods that she had been preparing her entire life. Soon after, she started to forget dates such as her anniversary, her birthday, and even started to forget other information that had been embedded in her mind for a lifetime. Eventually, she was unable to put words together and create sentences, which made her lose her ability to communicate. 

KEEP IN MIND, All of these incidents happened within weeks of that initial onset of her cognitive decline, and after a visit to the Emergency Room, where the Doctors performed routine tests such as bloodwork, urine samples, and a CAT scan of the brain and everything came back negative, we as a family, and most importantly, Anna’s primary Doctor, still believed that something was wrong. It was at that time, he ordered an MRI of the Brain. 

The MRI results showed bilateral damage on the frontal lobe of her brain, which could have resulted from an Ischemic Stroke, or Covid-Fog or a number of other other possibilities but Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD) disease could not be ruled out, unless a spinal tap was performed, to see if Anna had the presence of Prions in her brain. The spinal tap was performed and the results were devastating. They did indeed find prions in Anna's brain, and because there is no medicine to either control or cure this disease, Anna’s days were numbered. 

THE REASON BEING, the drug companies research on this deadly disease has been minimal, due to the fact that there aren’t enough cases per year to spike the Drug Companies financial interests. There are minimal medical grants allocated to the CJD Disease, and because of the lack of these funds, research for this horrible disease has been limited.  

With that being said, we as a family feel that it is our responsibility to support the CJD Foundation, by spreading awareness, and most importantly by raising funds which will be used for medical research. Through this extensive and much needed medical research, we are hopeful that it will bring about a breakthrough, for a preventative, controllable, and possibly, even a cure for this dreadful disease, which has taken so many wonderful lives, and has destroyed so many families, in such a devastating way.

As we take this story to a close, we would like you all to know that Anna lives in each and every one of us… All of her love, all of her kindness, and all her laughter, will hopefully one day ignite a spark in all of us, to live each day without regrets and every day from this day forward, with a positive attitude with the loving memory of the most amazing woman that has walked this Earth.

We love you forever Annie!