Late last week my wife and I had to make the decision on whether or not we were going to evacuate our home in south Florida or stick out the storm. When we made our decision the path of the hurricane was not looking good. We knew that we wouldn’t be directly hit, but felt that we would get enough of the storm that it would make us lose power. And we did not want to lose power with an 18 month old.
So, we decided that we were going to evacuate. We thought about just making the short drive to Orlando for the weekend, but they were bracing for the storm themselves, so we had to go even further west or further north, so of course, we chose north since it’s where I’m from.
We made the drive north to PA and made it by Thursday morning. I was told by my mom that my brother was going to a diabetes walk on Saturday for my niece. I found out that the local ADA Step Out walk was going to be taking place at Coca-Cola Stadium in Allentown, PA, the home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies Triple A Affiliate).
This was the first diabetes walk that I was attending that I wasn’t the only person with diabetes that was walking. Typically, it is just me and the walk is about myself. This time, I was sharing the honor with my niece, but was mainly about her. I’ve done my share of walks and I think that they can be a lot of fun for kids, especially when they see other kids running around with an insulin pump or CGM.
Speaking at the event was Kendall Simmons, who has partnered with Novo Nordisk to share his story. I’ve met Kendall in the past and have also interviewed the Super Bowl champion. When I met him again on Saturday, I wanted to check out the Super Bowl rings again. Primarily because I am an Eagles fan and I never know when or if I will ever see one.
During the walk there were a bunch of signs along the path that had a red hand and a picture of someone with diabetes. While we were walking through, my niece kept saying everyone’s name and looking at the picture and then bam…. “Hey, that one is me!”
My sister-in-law was able to get my niece’s picture and name and a special note on one of the signs. She was so happy and excited to see her face there. As people walked by they were cheering and clapping for her because of her excited look.
This was one of those good diabetes moments. Seeing someone so excited to see their picture, even though it’s diabetes related, it makes it exciting and not just the constant negative vibe that diabetes gives out.