Stephanie is an amazing young woman who has courageously battled brain tumors for many years. She has been raising money for this great cause and is well deserving of this nomination!

Stephanie has been triumphing over recurrences of brain cancer since she was a high school senior. She’s now a woman in her mid-30s who holds a bachelor’s degree, volunteers to help shelter animals, and lives with her high school sweetheart and husband of 14 years and her two dogs. She exemplifies persistence and proves that treatment works.

My cousin, Stephanie Nave, is one of the toughest people on earth. She has been dealing with health problems since her first seizure at age two. Now 37, she is a shining example of strength. While I don’t know every detail about her health history, her constant scans and tests are a battle all their own. Steph’s first brain tumor and surgery were during her junior year of high school. I remember how strong I thought she was when she went to her prom wearing a scarf tied around her head. Being the younger cousin, I never knew how serious her brain cancer was because she was always smiling. When I saw my aunt crying in the hospital waiting room during Steph’s second brain surgery, I really began to understand. There have been more surgeries and more scans, more tests and more doctors, but Stephanie is always smiling. She is amazing. She is great with kids and animals and is a caring aunt to many nieces and nephews. Steph is a great writer and teacher and a good friend. She is surrounded by a husband that will do anything for her, parents that have always have, and always will, be there for her, and an extended family that loves her so more than she knows. Stephanie always says that her mom wishes that she could be the sick one, that she could take the cancer from Stephanie and bear it for her. Stephanie always responds with, ‘You can’t handle this. I am the strong one!’