5 things Larissa can’t live without

1. Laughter

I love to laugh, I want to say I laugh every day. You could say I do it because it’s the best medicine but really I just like to find the fun. From dry wit to snarky sarcasm to dad jokes to a great pun, it doesn’t matter as they all make me laugh. I like to think that if happiness can be spread around then laughter would be the instrument like a knife to spread peanut butter.

2. John

My home is not a specific place but wherever John, my partner, happens to be. He is the ying to my yang. Although we may have many things in common it is the ways we are different that makes him irreplaceable to me. He keeps things simple and manageable when I sometimes try to do too much. He loves adventures when I can be a real home body. Together we make one amazing pair. It also doesn’t hurt that he loves to make me laugh.

3. Community

My family is not local so a strong sense of community is important for me have roots here. I love participating in local events and meeting new people. I volunteer with the Triathlon Club of Burlington as their leadership team’s vice president. I dress up as a superhero to run in the Moon in June kid’s race. I like to have a sense that I make a difference to those around me. In difficult times, my community has rallied with me and in joyous times my community celebrates.

4. Food

I love eating, don’t we all? I consider myself a foodie. I will make my way out to try any and all restaurants. I love to cook and if I do say so myself I am quite good at it. I was raised with the notion that I could never not try a food. As a kid I hated it but now as an adult I say “Yes please!”. One day I hope to write a cookbook. Experimenting with new foods in the kitchen and then getting to eat my creation makes me proud.

5. Movement

I know it’s a little on the nose for any kind of physical therapist to value movement. Here is the thing for me. I was in a car accident, a bad one. In the moments before the jaws of life cut me out of my car I could not move. It was the scariest moment of my life, I wondered what life would be like for me and my loved ones if I couldn’t move. Its terrifying. Now I try to find ways to show how grateful I am that I can move. I like to challenge myself with triathlons. One of the reasons, I became an RMT was so I could have movement as part of my career.