Hamilton residents Marisa and Mariah Greco demonstrate their “twin connection” during a shift at McDonalds on June 17, 2015. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
When Mariah Greco found out she had earned the opportunity to compete in an international track and field meet in Australia this summer, she thought she was being punked.
The 2015 Steinert High School graduate and field event star received communication from Down Under Sports, an organization that hosts international sports tournaments each year, who sent a letter to the school inviting her to compete in the July 6 meet. She, her mother Margie, and her twin sister Marisa thought it was fake at first, but after some phone calls and a little research, they realized it was legitimate, and the excitement set in.
But there was one problem: it would be an expensive trip, and the family couldn’t afford Marisa’s ticket. The sisters couldn’t imagine the getaway without one another, so Margie reached out to Dream Factory, an organization that grants trips an experiences to critically and chronically ill children—Marisa has polcystic kidney disease, a rare, incurable, and chronic affliction that causes fluid-filled cysts to form on the kidneys, causing pain, kidney stones that can puncture and enter the cysts, and other complications.
In January, the girls found out that Dream Factory was funding Marisa’s trip, and in June, she received the donation, as well as a new set of luggage and some spending money.
All Mariah could manage was an exhilarated “Woo!” when she recalled finding out that Marisa would join her.
“I cried,” she said. “I was so happy.”
Margie, Marisa and Mariah will travel July 5-17, with a three-day stop in Hawaii included on the way home. Day trips to sites like the Great Barrier Reef are included.
Oh, yeah—there’s a track meet somewhere in there, too.
Mariah, who is still deciding between Georgian Court and the University of Delaware for college in the fall, will represent New Jersey and the East Conference in Australia.
She will throw her usual javelin, shot put and discus, but in June, she started learning hammer throw for the meet, as well. The event is not part of New Jersey high school competition.
“It’s a lot harder than all the other ones,” she said. “The hammer, it’s like the opposite of everything else I’ve been doing. I’m getting better at it. I probably like it more than discus. You have to let it take you. The other events, you have to take it first.”
When Marisa, a graduate of the Health Sciences Academy, found out she’d get to see her twin compete, her reaction was nearly identical to Mariah’s when she received her invitation: she didn’t think it was real.
That’s just one of the many similarities the girls share. The girls work together at McDonald’s, and though they went to different high schools, they spent most of their free time together. Marisa said they have a “twin connection,” and it’s clear immediately after talking to them for just a couple of minutes.
“I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s crazy,” Marisa said. “We finish each other’s sentences, or start singing a song at the same spot. We’re really close. Everyone’s always like, ‘You don’t ever fight?’ And we never do. We’re so close.”
Mariah agreed, adding that Marisa constantly inspires her in her own fight against PKD.
“She motivates me every day to keep going and never give up,” she said.
Each day is a quest to keep going for Marisa. Since there is no cure for PKD, the only treatment is pain management and monitoring the cysts, ensuring that they don’t rupture and potentially cause sepsis.
As a result, she’s consistently in and out of the hospital.
“One second, you can be fine, and the next second, you’re not,” she said. “You try not to go [to the hospital], but at some point in time, you can’t manage the pain yourself anymore.”
Margie said the constant hospital trips are draining—emotionally and financially. Between driving back and forth from Hamilton to New Brunswick and paying for parking, meals and sometimes overnight stays in hotels, the costs add up and take a toll on already fragile emotions.
“You might get a $1,000 paycheck, but by the time you’re done at the hospital, it’s gone,” she said. “There’s so many expenses that people don’t realize come with this.”
So the Grecoes decided to do something about it. Marisa and Mariah founded Marisa’s Mission, and organization dedicated to raising PKD awareness, as well as supporting children and adults with prolonged hospital stays, chronic illnesses or other struggles. They also work with other organizations, like the Sunshine Foundation.
They raise money through the sale of items like T-shirts and wristbands, but the organization mostly collects items for gift baskets that the girls donate to patients. It is currently gathering new items for the 44 Hamilton residents displaced as a result of the recent fire in the Bromley neighborhood that damaged or destroyed 20 row homes.
Usually, Margie, Marisa and Mariah talk to a relative of the patient to find out what kind of things he or she might need or want. Then, through donations or their own money, they get together items in line with the hospital’s requirements—hypoallergenic, non-flammable, etc.—set up a gift basket, and take it to the patient. Common items include school supplies, pajamas, makeup, clothing and coffee.
Marisa, who is headed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in the fall to study nursing, knows how much a few kind words, a small gift, or just a little bit of non-medical human interaction can impact a hospital stay.
“Just someone going out of their way and saying something foes a long way for someone who’s sitting in the hospital with nothing to do,” she said. “Little things, like making crafts. You give stuff like that to them, and you see them smile, and it’s just like, ‘Well, maybe I should do this more often.’”
She remembered one instance where she and a friend with sickle cell anemia painted the window of a hospital neighbor who was under a strict quarantine.
“It was his birthday the next day,” Marisa said. “He was on the other side painting from the inside.”
Or the time where Margie found out that a female patient who had been in the hospital for three months was feeling a little down. She and her daughters went out and bought some dresses and accessories at the recommendation of the girl’s mother.
“We always put in a T-shirt, a bracelet,” Margie said. “We put in some words of encouragement. We don’t try to make a generic thing.”
The girls’ giving nature doesn’t stop there. Mariah is actively involved with the Special Olympics, due in large part to her best friend, Matthew Sorrento, a Steinert student who has Down’s syndrome. She encouraged him to go out for the track team this year, telling him that if he didn’t make it, she’d quit. He joined the team and competed in a few races, and Mariah said the joy it brought him—and her—was unparalleled.
“I would like to start something with Special Olympics,” she said. “If I ever become famous, I’m definitely going straight for something with them.”
The girls both said they love giving and hate receiving, but they both set that aside and welcomed the Dream Factory trip with open arms. It will be their one last hurrah together before college, which they are both looking forward to and dreading at the same time.
“I don’t know how it’s going to feel not to come home and hear her giggle,” Marisa said. “That’s going to be difficult.”
But Mariah has a solution.
“We’ll visit each other every weekend, probably,” she said.
For more information on Marisa’s Mission, visit marisasmission.org.
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