So many of us here in Lake Nona come from different places and have different stories of how we wound up in the Nonahood. No two stories are the same, with each comprised of individuals making the choice to pick up and move from another part of Florida, another state, or even another country. This is How We Got Here, telling stories one at a time of how different families from all different walks of life ended up in Lake Nona.
The Varro family, with members Lori, Mike, and dogs Cairo and Olaf, ventured to Lake Nona because of Mike’s job with Veterans Affairs (VA). After moving from Minneapolis to Gainesville, the family eventually found their way to Central Florida, with Mike working at the Lake Nona VA. The various moves for the Varro family were not always easy. Leaving Minneapolis for Gainesville, they left behind a large family and, with that, family traditions that couldn’t be carried over with them being so far from the rest of their extended family. Once they arrived in Lake Nona, they fell in love with the people, the close proximity to Cocoa Beach, and the memories that they have been able to share with their new friends whilst embarking on new traditions.
The Varro’s story is filled with both exceptional bravery and strength and prodigious loss, beginning when Mike was just 11 years old and lost his leg from birth complications. Lori has also faced her own difficulties, including finding out she had strand 18 of HPV. After multiple tests, the doctor told her that she had a very rare form and late stages of pre-cervical cancer, leading to her having a hysterectomy at just 30 years old.
However, the two of them have continued to prove that hardship and tragedy cannot damage the power of the human spirit. In 2016, Mike went to an open house at South Orlando Rowing Association, and he tried rowing for the first time. He fell completely in love with the sport. After winning a few races, he gained attention on the national stage and was invited to try out for the team in Boston, Mass. He made the team in 2017 and was in the 4+ boat that represented the United States in the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota last year.
He made the National Paralympic Rowing Team in 2017 and 2018. This year, Mike was invited back and again made the team. In a few short weeks, he will be off to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to represent the USA in the 2018 World Rowing Championships. “This is all prep for the ultimate goal of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics,” said Lori.
Mike has also done all he can to give back to the local community, specifically the veterans at the VA. “He eventually went on to school to be a prosthetist, and he builds prosthetic limbs for our veterans at the VA hospital,” Lori added.
Check out the rest of our interview with the Varro Family below to learn more about their inspiring story!
NHN: Tell me a little bit more about the most memorable thing to happen to your family?
LV: Mike and I got engaged in early August of 2014, just a few weeks before moving to Florida. I had recently been laid off from my job and didn’t have health insurance, and after setting a date and a venue for an April wedding in Minnesota, we decided to sneak off to the courthouse in Gainesville and get married. We didn’t tell anyone except our immediate family and bridal party. Three months after that, I had gone to the doctor to get my IUD replaced, and I found out that I had strand 18 of HPV and that something wasn’t right. After multiple tests, the doctor called me and told me I have a very rare form and late stages of pre-cervical cancer. Basically, she told me that on a scale of 1-10, 10 being cancer, I was at a 9.5. After a few consultations and a cone biopsy, they told me that the form of cancer I had was rare because it would jump from one spot to another, and it basically meant that I had to decide if I wanted to have kids and if I did, I had to get pregnant right away and immediately after giving birth I would have to have a hysterectomy. Keep in mind, I am only 30 years old when this is happening. So, after a long discussion with Mike, we decided that since we were actively trying not to get pregnant right now, we would just go ahead with the hysterectomy sooner rather than later. So, three weeks after we had the wedding in MN in April, I had a hysterectomy, and eight weeks after that, we moved to Orlando. Needless to say, our first year of marriage was definitely eventful!
NHN: What drew you to the Lake Nona area?
LV: What interested us in Lake Nona was how it was a developing community. It was new and exciting that all these new places/communities were going to start popping up over the next few years. We also really liked how they seem to be very fitness-focused. My husband and I both enjoy working out and doing things outdoors. There are so many neat things to do here!
NHN: What is your best memory here in Lake Nona?
LV: I can’t pick just one, but I would say it is a compilation of all the memories and fun times we have had at the boatyard and the memories we have built with the families there.
NHN: What do you both do for work now?
LV: I am a project manager for a school furniture company called Meteor Education. Our focus is really helping school districts transform their schools and communities into high-impact learning environments. We are hyper-focused on collaborative learning spaces. Mike works for the VA in Lake Nona. He is a prosthetist and helps our veterans walk every day, so that is pretty cool all around!
NHN: What brings your family together?
LV: What brings us together is God. God has been such a help to us, and we could not have made it through the struggles we have had to get where we are today without him and our faith. We owe all we have and all the experiences we have in our lives to God. Secondly, what brings us together is our love for each other. We spend a lot of time together since it is just the two of us, and because we want to spend our time together, we both end up doing things that we probably wouldn’t have expected. For instance, I am a rower now. I never thought I would be, but I am, because I wanted to spend time with my husband, and this was something he loved. I took up the sport, too, and now I love it, too!
NHN: Where do you both see yourselves in the next five years?
LV: In the next five years, I think we both see ourselves advancing in our careers and relaxing after four years of nonstop training for the Paralympics! We plan to stay in the area long-term and want to really lay down some roots here in the Lake Nona area.
Would you like to share your story of how you got here? Please fill out this online form: forms.nona.media/how-we-got-here or send an email to Vanessa@nonahoodnews.com with a brief summary of why your family moved to Lake Nona. We’ll be in touch.
