Children's Congress

Spending three days with 150 families that live with Type 1 Diabetes was a unique and inspiring experience. There are no strangers among parents that are all awake at midnight, three and six AM each night or children that share the experience of pricking their fingers ten times per day and are tethered to their insulin pumps at all times. The kids had a great time together and Sam made a friend named Emily, (age four) that he spent most of the time with. I was struck by the poise of some of the older delegates and I know that Sam is developing that quality already as an advocate and as a human being. It goes without saying that the kids did an incredible job of telling their stories to Congress, and I think the FDA took notice of the event. In addition to the delegate families, Kevin Kline, a parent of a child with diabetes himself, testified at the hearing and numerous athletes, scientists and other familiar faces lent their support. During one of the sessions, Sam got up to the microphone and asked Kendall Simmons, an NFL player who has diabetes, how diabetes affects his game.
My favorite photo though is the one of Talia at the top of this post with all the younger delegates who somehow manages to not only be included, but to be at the center of it all. Crystal Bowersox (pictured with Sam and the other New York delegates) of American Idol wrote an original song called "Promise to Remember Me" that the kids performed on the steps of the Capitol. You can see the moving performance and some highlights from CC11 below:

Spring for a Cure

On Thursday evening, Jon and I attended JDRFs annual Spring for a Cure gala at Metropolitan Pavilion. The highlights: lemon basil margaritas, scallop ceviche, eileen's cheesecakes and a thousand people at $100 each raising money for Juvenile Diabetes.

We were actually excited for a night out this year. The first time we went to SFAC Sammy's diagnosis was still kind of raw. There was an exhibit at the event made of insulin bottles that still makes me wince when I think about it. If it wasn't our first night out it was the second or third at most and we called every hour.

A few months later we got our first team together for the Walk to Cure Diabetes. When I got out of the subway at Battery Park and saw thousands of people with their team shirts on I immediately started crying. I remember saying, "Oh my God. All these kids... all these families have diabetes."

On the days between the Walk and Spring for a Cure, I am not overly focused on these other families. Sam is the only kid in his school with diabetes so it's not that common for us to talk to other parents in this unique language. When we do encounter another family there is often an immediate connection. Jon says it's akin to the big blue whales that travel the oceans alone until suddenly they find one of their kind.