Gia Day

When I met my husband, Daniel, we immediately became best friends. We did everything together, from cooking to restaurant hopping, to running. Yes, I found someone who made even running fun! That’s when I knew…These days, we really enjoy immersing ourselves in the natural beauty of wherever God places us on this earth. Here, we traveled to a small, unknown lake in the Italian Dolomites with my family from Italy. These moments allow me to really take a step back from life and take everything in, thanking God for what He has given me and where He has brought me. I’m truly thankful for my adventure buddy. I love you, Daniel Day!

This picture was taken during one of the single best nights of my life. Not an exaggeration. Daniel and I were traveling through beautiful northern Michigan with our close friend Erika Pritchard (I was showing these native Marylanders what my home state was made of). We drove all the way to the Silver Lake sand dunes, grabbing some firewood on the way, as fires on the beach were a popular activity here (seemed a little crazy and slightly illegal at the time but yolo). In the parking lot, we came across a stranger on our walk to the dunes. Turns out he was traveling alone around the world in his repurposed Toyota 4Runner. He offered us a bottle of wine and we offered him a place by our fire. So much for stranger danger.. Gathering fire sticks in the nature around us, telling stories, sharing ideas, and gazing at the stars when they came alive as the sun disappeared.. These things all came together to create several moments of awe - was this real life? On the drive home, we couldn’t stop talking about how incredible our time together was. As if we were in a movie.

I’m not entirely sure when my love of horses began. Maybe it was after my three sisters and I watched “Spirit” for the first time. We would gallop around the house for hours, creating our own magical movie where we were the horses, running free through the prairie! A couple years later, we all visited my grandmother’s sister in Louisiana. She had a lot of land with around 5 horses, all of which we became obsessed with. We each had our favorites and learned to care for them while we were with her. We didn’t mind waking up at 5 am each morning to do so - I remember jumping out of my sleeping bag when I heard Aunt Carol coming down the stairs! From then on I have dreamed about having horses of my own - to know, to care for, and to allow other people to get to know these incredible creatures. I plan on having my own healing sanctuary for mistreated horses. Here, people with anxiety or disabilities can come and meet them, hear their stories, and maybe even ride them! That would be such a fulfilling project for the next chapter of my life.

Why did I include this one? It doesn’t really look like much, but this place is such a cornerstone of my family history.. As you can probably tell from my name, my ancestors are from Italy. My Grandfather traveled from Sicily to Canada on a ship at the ripe age of 12 years old! It's a long story, but they owned quite a bit of land and produced olive oil as a family in a small town called Custonaci. The pictured building provided shelter for them on the land. It was a place for them to cool down from the Sicilian heat, eat lunch, and take an afternoon nap. My Grandfather slept in this very place decades ago! Eventually, my great grandmother died, and a couple months later, so did my great grandfather.. My grandpa and his two young brothers were alone in such a dangerous time, when World War II had taken so much from that area. This caused many to attempt to raid their land, knowing they had no one to protect them. The brothers would sit in this building and stay up all night to protect their oil. Being able to visit this place was a big reason for me wanting to play professionally in Italy. I was 22 the first time I was able to see it in person and it just blew my mind. It is a huge reminder to me to take nothing for granted, and to live a life worthy of the sacrifice that was made for me, not only by Jesus, but by my family as well.

Yes, we are all sisters and yes, my parents are crazy for having all of us in the span of 5 years! Because we were so close in age, we have always been so close - like being around yourself x3 but everyone has a completely different personality. I thank God every day for giving me 3 built-in best friends. When we are all together, it’s like we never ever left. Laughing, sharing memories, and like any good sisterhood, arguing. Some of my fondest memories with my sisters were made at my dad’s Indycar races! We would run around the inside of the track looking for loose pieces, get spoiled rotten by all my dad’s friends, and swim for hours in the pool at the hotels we would stay at while my dad raced! I have always bragged about my dad being a racecar driver, even to this day. He has been a big inspiration to me, coming from an immigrant family and being the first generation to go to college. He quit baseball and decided to challenge himself to pursue his passion, automotive engineering. He said he barely made it through and had to work harder than everyone around him, but he did it. He has always been my hero. I came from a long list of fighters. My mom lost her dad when she was 16 and was an only child. It was only her and Grandma from then on… My grandma had to work hard to make enough money to support them and help my mom with college. These are all just reminders to me to work hard every day because it’s not a coincidence to be standing where I am today. I  thank my whole family for doing what they did to ensure a great life for my sisters and me.