Brenda Vignaroli
Brenda Vignaroli: I am the single parent of two daughters, Cara, who is a 31-year-old feisty, healthy-heart young woman and Jessica, 28, born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Jessica is the second oldest survivor of HLHS from UCLA Medical Center. I was married during the first two surgeries Jessica endured, the Norwood and then the Glenn Shunt procedures. By the third and final surgery, my marriage began to wane and Jessica's father had left the state and abandoned the family, which forced me to face this most difficult time without a spouse, and Jessica without a father. Forced to go back to work, I spent the next 28 years working in the design department of a major apparel company, Olga/Warnaco in Van Nuys CA. I couldn't have done it without the love, strength and protection from my very loving family who supported and cared for us during those very trying times.
