I have never been so proud of Sarah as I am tonight.
Tonight Sarah and I met with a family to provide a newly diagnosed seven year old with his Bag of Hope. Little Tyler was so excited to finally get his Rufus! Sarah, who is often very shy when meeting new people, was positively amazing as she described in vivid detail her experiences with diabetes.
Sarah described in detail how she feels when she's low, her positive and negative experiences in school, and how her friends help her take care of herself. She described how she handles testing in school, experiences with teachers and substitutes, and advocating in Washington DC. She was articulate, positive, and really showed her great attitude towards staying healthy.
We brought with us, in addition to the Bag of Hope, Richard Vaughn's book - Beating the Odds - 64 Years of Diabetic Health. Even though Sarah has never met Richard, she actually remembered enough of his stories (which I've shared over the last few months), to articulate how early diabetic life was for Richard, and how he's lived successfully with type 1 diabetes for so many years.
Sarah is a better mentor than I could ever be. She lives diabetes 24 hours a day and somehow never lets it get her down. She rolls with the punches, takes the humor wherever she finds it, and is an amazing advocate for LIVING with diabetes - because Sarah lives every day to its absolute fullest.
Sarah, you're hired! Tell ya what, I'll pay you in marshmallows - 2-3 times a week until you're sick of them. But seriously, you're going places kiddo. With that attitude, the sky's not even going to limit your potential.
Love you baby!!!
