Our bright pink T-shirts simply said, “Flip the Script on Aging.”
That is exactly what Dan and I, along with over 200 older Michiganians, did on the lawn of Michigan’s State Capitol on Wednesday, May 7.
We were there for Older Michiganians Day (OMD), a day of advocacy for Michigan’s aging population that the Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan organizes and hosts annually.
This is critically important to us because one of the primary issues we consistently advocate for is the Michigan MI Choice Medicaid Waiver Program. This program provides seniors and adults with disabilities (like me) with in-home caregivers to assist with activities of daily living, allowing us to maintain a quality of life while living in our own homes.
Dan and I have participated in this incredible event nearly every year since we married in 2005. But there was something extra special and humbling about this year’s OMD for me.
Region VII—the AAA that manages my caregiver services and support—asked me to speak about my MI Choice experiences during the event’s main program.
Me, presenting by myself in front of hundreds of other advocates, inspiring them before their meetings with state senators and representatives.
Let’s be real. This program makes perfect sense and is a win-win for the Michigan legislature (it actually saves the state money), and it gives Michigan residents an improved quality of life because it enables them to stay in their own homes.
According to the Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan, the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver Program:
• Has demonstrated that care delivered in the home is 62% less expensive than having the same person moved into a nursing facility or an institutional setting.
• Averages a daily cost per participant of $89.53 while nursing facilities averaged $234.56 a day.
Again, MI-Choice makes sense!
It was such an honor, and I’m excited to share the script of my speech to explain how and why this program is so significant to Dan and me.
My Home is MI Choice
Do you remember where you were on September 28, 2002?
To most, it may have been just another day. But for me, it changed everything.
I was helping run a National MS Society program called “Finding Your Buried Treasure” — an event for women who had put their dreams on hold after an MS diagnosis.
It was meant to be all women… so when I saw this cute guy walk in, I thought, “Hmm, whose husband or boyfriend is that?”
Turns out, his name was Dan. He also has MS. And lucky for me — he had noticed me too.
We hit it off right away. Within six months, we were already tossing around ideas about marriage — just in hypotheticals, of course.
But we kept asking ourselves: Can two people with MS — one of us in a wheelchair — really build a life together?
Then I learned about something that made those dreams feel possible: The Michigan MI Choice Medicaid Waiver Program.
This program provides in-home caregivers to support people like me with daily activities — so that partners like Dan can keep working full-time.
This wasn’t just an idea. It was our path forward.
And so… Dan proposed.
On September 10, 2005, we got married. And we’ve been living — and loving — our life together ever since.
For nearly two decades, Dan and I have come to Lansing to advocate for the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver Program. Because this program helps make our marriage possible. It helps make our home possible.
Without it, I could be living in an assisted living facility. But thanks to MI Choice, I’m able to live in my own home — with my husband, with my independence, and as a proud, active member of the Mount Pleasant community.
My home truly is MI Choice.
And I’m proud to stand with all of you today — to make sure it stays a reality for every Michigander who needs it.
Thank you.
