My Hero - Ryan!

November 2, 2011

Today started like all days - Ryan was up and downstairs playing Wii (I heard him head downstairs around 6am), at 7am I wake Allie from her slumber and drag her down to breakfast. We all figure out what we want to eat for breakfast - Allie counts out all the carbs in her breakfast selection, she tests her blood sugar and then she gets a shot of insulin, calculated with both her blood sugar and carbs combined (we are definately creating a smart mathematician!) Then I remind her to eat all her food - over and over and over and over and over - they get dressed and then I send them off to school on the bus. (Yes I have three kids - Sammie usually gets up around 830am - talk about late riser!!)

However this morning - her brother Ryan reminded me that diabetes didn't just happen to Allie - it happened to our whole family - and him. I think he is more into helping Allie than anyone else in our family - he went to change his clothes and he asked if there was another diabetes awareness shirt he could wear today - I gave him the t-shirt he got when he did the walk for diabetes to wear - he wants to wear something about diabetes all month (we only have two shirts so that will be a lot of laundry this month!) He then put on his ribbon and an American Diabetes Association sticker he wore yesterday and came downstairs "mom look the sticker will work two days at least - hopefully I can wear it all week so I don't have to use them all up before the end of the month. Where is my diabetes bracelet - is my ribbon on straight? How do I look?"

A lot of questions from an 8 year old boy - and he never cares about how he looks - trust me I am lucky to get him to take a shower daily!! :-) But yesterday, today and probably all month he is going to care because he is carrying his sister's disease with him everywhere he goes this month. He is educating his classmates and his friends at school and his is in no way embarrassed by it - he is proud to be a part of his family and proud to ensure everyone he meets understands Type 1 Diabetes and what his sister and his family goes through each day.

Ryan is a true hero - and I am so proud of him no words can describe. He is taking a true understanding of this disease and making sure he educates everyone he can - he is wearing the badge of his sister all month proudly and loudly! What a wonderful individual and person he is becoming - just like his dad!

Until there is a cure,
Jennifer