Today. ..

Today is the day. Today is the day I celebrate a second birthday for my daughter. On a day like today, in 2012, she was reborn as a diabetic toddler. It was a surprise! But it did not catch us unprepared and off guard.

It has been 368 since we heard the diagnosis. And exactly a year since we left the hospital. It was intense! It was difficult! It was scary! It was life changing! It was a challenge! It was nerve-wrecking! It was all the things that only a parent that has gone through this experience can understand. It was the inevitable induction into a small group, a small club of parents that learn to live with this challenge on a daily basis.

A yearul later I am so happy and so grateful to realize everything is ok. My daughter has accepted her new lifestyle and has done wonderfully. She deserves all the credit for adjusting to such a radical change in lifestyle at such an early age. Even before she is able to read a book on her own, she speaks diabetes. I am proud of her efforts and of her self discipline. I am proud of the temperament and character she has shown in dealing with this.

So... Thanks to research! Thanks to carb counting! Thanks to FDA workers watching out for quality assurance! Thanks for nutritional guides all over! Thanks to diabetic educators! Thanks to the modernization of Medicine! Thanks for super thin needles! Thanks for 5-seconds glucometers! Thanks for measuring cups, and kitchen appliances, measuring spoons,  and nutritional labels! Thanks for a college education that includes a good science foundation! Thanks for a diabetic husband who has allowed me to delve deep into the diabetes world! Thanks for a father that is a nurse! Thanks for a mother who has dedicated her life to helping people that live with challenges and taught me my daughter's rights even before I could have a child!  Thanks for a wonderful staff at our medical provider! Thanks for strangers who become instant family because they know, they understand the shoes you wear everyday! And finally, thank God! Because it is only with the help of the Almighty, and the guidance of the Angels He sends that makes it possible for diabetes to be in our lives, without breaking us.

Diabetes might: rule our life; Run our schedules. Change our plans; Distance relationships;  Distortion the appearance of how things are; Interfere with desires...but it's here to stay,  and so will I. There is no return policy. No cancellation option. Therefore, since diabetes won't budge...neither will I!

MY NAME IS MELISA M. VALENTIN. I AM THE WIFE AND MOTHER OF 2 PEOPLE LIVING WITH DIABETES.  I LOVE THEM. THEY ARE MY LIFE. AND I WILL NOT STAND DOWN, DOWN PLAY OR YIELD MY POSITIONS. I AM IN THIS GAME TO WIN. I AM HERE TO KICK DIABETES IN THE BUTT!!!! THAT IS MY MISSION STATEMENT, UNTIL I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK GOD HAS FOR ME ON THIS, HIS EARTH.

I am tired but determined.  This is my place, my responsibility,  my duty,  my privilege. Moving forward is the path I choose.