In 1994, I met a girl at work. Her name was Krystal. We hit it off. Even from the start, we just kind of trusted each other. Isn't that funny when you meet someone like that?
Then she moved away and we lost touch until ten years later, when I saw her resume come across my desk. She had no idea I worked for that company. She just blindly sent it into the HR department of my company. I called her and hired her on the spot. We worked together for a year and a half until she moved on to a higher paying job. I have thought of her often and wondered how she and her family were doing. I always meant to look her up on Facebook, but just never remembered once I started browsing and looking at the day’s business.
Flash forward!
Two days ago, I had lunch with some wonderful women who care for children with diabetes. I really liked the newest member of our Diabetes Mommy Club. I hadn’t met her before. Her son had been diagnosed on the first day of school this year. I was impressed with how she took the bull by the horns, learning everything quickly and helping her son through the emotions of their new life style. During our meeting, she admitted she had cancelled on us twice previously because she was afraid of what she would learn about her new found future. A support group setting is always difficult at first, so we understood. But the group just clicked! She stayed and talked at Panera for almost four hours! It was great. Even though some of the things we talked about were hard to hear, she said she was so glad she came. She was the kind of person that, again, I instantly trusted.
Afterwards, she sent me a message on Facebook to thank me for talking with her. Bummer because she beat me to sending her the same one first. It made me smile. Helping people who are newly-diagnosed is my favorite part of dealing with diabetes. It is a hard life, but it is manageable. When your child is newly-diagnosed, there are a lot of variables. The scariness of the unknown is the worst part. For a year, you just wait to make a simple mistake that can seriously harm your child. This responsibility can be overwhelming.
Later that day, she called me. When a diabetes mommy calls, no matter what time it is, you pick up! Sometimes those calls are super urgent and a mom needs help right away.
She said, "Shari, you are never going to believe..." I cut her off and said, "Don't even tell me you are Krystal's sister!" She just started laughing and said, "Yep!"
Goosebumps! The entire time we were at Panera, I kept noticing that she reminded me of someone. At one point, I thought about Krystal, but I never asked her if she was related. The only way she made the connection was that Krystal saw her Facebook message to me and called her right away to explain the connection!
I love the way the universe works. I love the amazing stories that come from the six degrees of separation! I am fascinated by the connection among people. I love Facebook! I think Facebook should do commercials about the crazy connections that have been made. My cousin works for them. I will tell her the idea this weekend when I see her at a holiday party.
So, after I hung up, I wondered what could be the purpose of us meeting. Sure, the power of two moms going through the same thing is amazing, but I knew it was something deeper. I promised myself to look for the reason as our friendship grows.
But then she sent me this. I automatically knew this was the reason we needed to meet. It’s an essay that her son Thomas wrote for the MEAP test. He is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two months prior to writing this on his first day of school:
The Magic of a Moment
The Magic of a Moment for me is about numbers. That is not magical like
fireworks or a baby smiling, but for me it is magical because numbers make a
difference in how I know my blood sugar levels. I am a Type 1 Diabetic. Every day
I have to give myself pokes with a needle to get blood that goes into a machine.
The machine reads my blood sugar levels and gives me a number. The time that I
wait to see the numbers is a magic moment that makes me wonder what it will
be. The number could be high or low and that tells me how much medicine I
need to keep me going. The medicine is called insulin. I need up to four shots a
day of insulin. When I poke my finger and put the blood on a test strip, I wait for
the machine to show me this number. I have to do this at least four times a day.
At these times, I wait and hope for good numbers that are not too high and not
too low. Sometimes we try and guess the number before the machine reads it. It
is not fun, it is actually very scary, but it is also magical because it keeps me alive.
I will have to do this for the rest of my life. This is my Magic of a Moment story.
Something tells me that one day I will be helping Thomas publish his first book! His coming into my life sure is the Magic of a Moment for me!
What an amazing way to look at it. What an amazing and mature way to present his stored-up feelings. What bravery to handle all of this and write it down so clearly and poignantly. I have never met Thomas but I am already loving this little boy!
Thank you to the kismet energy of the universe for letting all of the above happen just so Thomas could share his story with the world. Thank you Thomas for letting us see diabetes through your eyes. Diabetes is hard, but you can do it! Keep writing down your feelings about it, even if just for yourself. One day, you will amaze yourself! I promise!
I can't wait to give Krystal a call!
This is Thomas on his first day at school. A couple of hours later, he would be rushed to the hospital with a blood sugar of 700. A child without diabetes has a blood sugar between 70-100.
This is him today! Blood sugar 95! Thank you insulin.
So this marks the end of 30 days of posting! I hope everyone can see that Rocco can play, volunteer, make videos, eat ice cream, give back and write books, all because he is able!
He just needs to stop and check his blood sugar once in a while.
December should be filled with fun posts about getting ready for the holiday season, twin stuff and maybe some snow (?) pictures!
Thank you again for voting for the contest! Because of you today Baby Einstein is now following us on Twitter and I didn't even ask them first! Yay! This was funny to me because when the boys were 9 -18 months Baby Einstein videos were the only way I was able to get a shower! It felt like I had come full circle! Lol!
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