Alberto and Linda Cassola are 2020 COVID transplants from Huntington, New York. They initially settled in Odessa, Florida, near Linda’s grown children before purchasing their Snell Isle condo in October 2024, just weeks before Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“Not great timing on our part,” Alberto laughs. “We suddenly owned two homes and were just praying we’d have at least one left when the storms were over.”

Fortunately, both homes survived without damage—at least until their major condo renovation began. With the renovation completed in May 2025 and their other home sold, the couple officially became full-time Snell Isle residents, along with their two beloved Bichon Frises, Gia (10) and Luca (8).

Alberto and Linda first met in 1994 while working for a major B2B publishing company in New York City. Alberto, originally from Milan, Italy, began his career in luxury retail with Bottega Veneta, overseeing U.S. sales and helping expand the brand globally before transitioning into senior management within the publishing industry. He later led the company through the merger of two separate publishing divisions into a single digital powerhouse in the mid-2000s.

Linda, originally from Philadelphia’s Main Line, built a successful sales and marketing career managing territories throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions. In 2010, she returned to New York City to lead the company’s national digital sales team. By then, both of their personal lives had changed significantly, creating an opportunity to explore whether friendship might turn into something more. It did, and they married in June 2013.

In 2015, Alberto and Linda left corporate life to launch their own publishing venture. Together, they developed five Stroll magazines across Long Island’s North Shore. After relocating to Florida, Linda launched two additional magazines in the Westchase area while Alberto continued managing the New York operation.

The Cassolas have a large, blended family that includes Linda’s son and daughter, Alberto’s two daughters, and Linda’s stepchildren from her late husband, who passed away in 2005. Of course, no family is complete without grandchildren. Today, Alberto and Linda are proud grandparents to seven grandchildren—six boys and one girl—and are hopeful that Alberto’s oldest daughter and her new husband may someday add to the count.

Unfortunately, life took a dramatic turn in December 2024 when Linda suffered both a heart attack and a stroke. Initially, she appeared to recover well after receiving a stent in her left main and left anterior descending (LAD) arteries. However, her symptoms persisted, and answers remained elusive.

In June 2025, a follow-up cardiac catheterization revealed that the stent in her LAD artery had collapsed by 95 percent, creating a potentially life-threatening situation. Physicians worked urgently to restore blood flow but remained puzzled by the unusual failure. Linda’s determination and instinct that something had been overlooked ultimately led her to one of the nation’s leading interventional cardiologists at Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus in Ohio.

There, doctors discovered not only that the stent was collapsing for a second time, but that Linda also had a congenital heart defect, coronary vasospasm, microvascular disease, and multiple myocardial bridges. In January 2026, she underwent a complex open-heart procedure that included unroofing three myocardial bridges, a double bypass, and the dissection of numerous fibrous tethers surrounding the heart.

Knowing her strong family history of coronary artery disease, Linda had spent decades maintaining a healthy lifestyle through proper nutrition, power walking, yoga, and Pilates.

“There is no doubt that my lifestyle is one of the reasons I’m still here today,” she says. “My doctors often tell me I’m their poster child and continue to be amazed at how well I’ve recovered throughout this entire journey.”

While the surgery was successful, the journey is not yet over. Still recovering from her 6½-hour operation, Linda continues to manage residual cardiac conditions, including HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction) and diastolic dysfunction, which require ongoing medical treatment and monitoring.

The experience has given Alberto and Linda a new philosophy: Later Is Now.

Taking nothing for granted, they have several adventures planned through next year. Naturally, Italy tops the list, with a condo-hunting trip to Liguria scheduled for July.

“Building family memories in my homeland has always been important to me,” Alberto says. “Now is the time to make it happen.”

Future travels include Milos, Greece; Paris, France; and Japan, where they plan to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

Alberto and Linda intend to make the most of every day they are given. As Linda puts it:

“I am still here for a reason, and I will never take a single day for granted.”