There is no such thing as small change.

I held the insulin vial high above my head where the light from the gym windows could just catch the liquid left within.“This is insulin.  Your bodies make insulin all day long.  Believe it or not, your body needs insulin to live.  My boys have Type 1 Diabetes.  Their bodies do not make insulin.  Just days without this…and they can’t be alive anymore.”I gently shake the bottle to make my point.  Their eyes were bright with interest.  I had them.“Thankfully, we’re able to inject this insulin into their bodies, and they can live a normal life just like you and me.  But there is a catch.  This bottle...

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Gentle.

There is someone you’re going to pass today that is having a hard time.  They might not know how to cope with the feelings they are having, and as a result the passing might not be kind.Be gentle.There is a person that you work with that’s family member is going through cancer treatments.  You don’t know that.  They are quieter than usual.  You want to tease them for being so quiet.Be gentle.There is a mother at the grocery store who is going to bump your cart and mumble an apology under her breath, that may not seem sincere…but her mind is her child.  She is overcome with worry.Be gentle.There is a person who is going...

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Winning!

I want to thank everyone for their amazing efforts to raise money this year on behalf of the Spare a Rose campaign.  At last count, we've raised over $26,000 for children in need of insulin.If that isn't winning, I don't know what is.Dozens of people shared my post and didn't leave a comment on the original post.  In fairness, I could only pick a winner that left a comment.  As Mean Scott would say, "RULES!"I put the numbers one through twenty four through the random generator and out came:Hooray!Sarah of the Ethan and Isaac Show has won!!!Here are your spoils!  Since Medtronic sent me double of things, I thought I would have...

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Conversations about Diabetes.

Tonight we celebrated my youngest and his milestone of eight years of living with Type 1 Diabetes.  Since the evening was all about him, I let him choose where we would go for dinner. Despite his brothers’ persuasive arguments for Red Lobster and Chile’s, L was personally torn between Wendy’s and Chipoltle.  He wanted both.  So in an effort to make this a night to remember, we went through the Wendy’s drive-thru for one “Son of a Baconator” and carefully cut it into four pieces to serve as an appetizer to our Chipoltle.Yeah.  He said I was the best mom ever.  (Blush)Anyway, sitting in Chipoltle we chatted a bit, and then...

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Visible.

Diabetes is an invisible disease, right?Yeah.  Then this happened. When my boys were little, they always wore their pumps in a pump pack, or a spibelt.  When they got older, they all simply put them in their pockets.For my oldest J, that means he looks like this sometimes…Because he needs to hold his wallet, his pump and his cell phone in his pockets.I don’t know how it happened but my littlest L announced this morning he wanted to use a clip.My first reaction was, “Oh honey, clips don’t work for us.  They always fall off and bungee jump off your waist.”  But then I realized that was true when they were toddlers. ...

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The Spare a Rose Initiative and how you can help.

Maybe I can’t change the world.  But I can change one child’s world.Maybe I don’t have enough money to make a huge difference.  But I do have enough money to make a huge difference for a child.Maybe I can’t fly and hold these children that are suffering.  But I can send insulin, and help ebb their suffering a bit.Maybe I can’t do all I want to do.  But that shouldn’t stop me from doing something.Something.I can do something.You can too.At the Medtronic Advocate Forum I learned that in Haiti and Africa, newly diagnosed children with Type 1 Diabetes have an 80% mortality rate.90% if they are a girl.Only 10% of girls are able...

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