A Valentine's Day Like No other

I used to despise Valentine's day, emhasis on the used to.

I wasn't one of those 'oh, those corporate SOBs' have manufactured a holiday just to exploit money from the little guy', kind of guys (that's just a little too cynical for me). And nor was I a 'I hate this holiday becasue I'm a lonely slob and have no one to share it with', type of fellows (I was never one to do  poorly with the ladies (wink-wink)). I was a just a guy who didn't believe I needed a day to celebrate love. It seemed kind of silly to me.

But then came this one...

The weekend seemed ordinary enough to begin with. My wife and I went out ot a movie on Friday evening for 'date night,' and then we attended a birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Seems pretty standard. It was even a bit comical - we went to bed promising our selves that the next day we would pack our bags for the hospital. We didn't feel as though we were late to do so, we had almost three weeks to go for the delivery date.

My wife's water broke at 3:30am that morning. What followed over the next five hours were things that I had read about in dozens of baby books over the lasr 8 and a half months, but was hardly prepared for. Although her water had broken, she had very few contractions. We had time to call family, hug each other and ake photos. They took her aay at 8am to prepare her for a c-section delivery.

I've had diabetes for more then thirty years. And up until today I could not think of a time in my life when I have not thought about my diabetes at some point every 5 minutes. At some point every five minutes.
Then came today. From the time they called me into the delivery room until the time we were all in receovery together (maybe two hours total) i forgot I had diabetes. I forgot I had diabetes.
I got to stay with my wife during the cestion and actually got to see the monents of the birth. It was...well...words will never be able to describe the pure joy I felt. And two hours later, my wife and my son and I were all in the same room together.

I'd share more, but I'm exhausted....so I'll share more later.

Diabetic in the Olympics

Hey there....We've got another 'D'er in this year's Winter Olympics. Kris Freeman, the best American cross-country skiier for th epast decade, also has diabetes. An Olympian from 02 and 06, will be participating again in Vancouver 10. Here's a schedule of his races for the next two weeks.

• February 15, 12:30pm - Mens 15km Individual Freestyle
• February 17, 10:45am - Mens Individual Sprint
• February 20, 1:30pm - Mens 30km Pursuit
• February 22, 11:35am - Mens Team Sprint
• February 28, 9:30am - Mens 50km Mass Start

You can read more about Kris Freeman from JDRF and from Diabetes Information Finder
                                                                                                                 Kris Freeman (from Diabetes Health)

Reflections

I haven’t written because I didn’t have the words….


Not that anything’s really changed. I don’t know that time passing has helped to get some coherent thoughts down, but I’ve been unable to sleep since this living nightmare began. Much of the sleeplessness has been from examining my own faith, daring to question just what kind of master plan could include the passing of a child. Some of my inability to sleep has been due to a selfish anxiousness, scared because Jesse and I share the same disease, and if it could happen to him, why not me? The rest of the time I’ve been awake I’ve been thinking about what I could possibly say to make any of this better for anyone….. Then this morning I realized if I don’t at least try to put something down then I’ll never know.

Wow. That pretty much sums up Jesse’s attitude, ‘If I don’t try, then I’ll never know.’

Jesse Alswager passed away last week from ‘complications from diabetes.’ Only thirteen, he was taken entirely too early to know what kind of an impact he would have made on our world.

Or did he?

Take a look at what Jesse has done. He raised thousands for diabetes advocacy, education, and research. He met the Governor of his own state, and testified before Congress on the importance of stem cell research. He inspired those with diabetes, ranging from classmates to pro athletes that diabetes is a description only, not a defining characteristic.

You know, I’m envious of everything that Jesse accomplished in such a short time. I think back on my own youth living with diabetes and realized I could have done more to make an impact. I could have raised more money. I could have spoken out more. I could have inspired others.

What am I waiting for?

A child who showed so much promise that could be taken away so suddenly, there’s never been a truer example of how unfair life can be. Or that life is short and that if there’s something you want you have to go after is.

Jesse thought that way – we all should.

Triabuddy / Triabetes Video

A video from the end of the 2009 Triabuddy / Triabetes season, that culmonated in Arizona.

AT&T Athlete Alert

Event Information:
Event:	113th Boston Marathon 2009
Runner:	Brian Foster
Latest Results:
Location Time Pace/mile 10km 0:43:17 6:57 Half-Marathon 1:34:02 7:10 30km 2:16:13 7:18 Finish 3:18:23 7:33

All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.