Among Warriors and Birds

written on the day of the JDRF One Walk in Minnesota – May 18, 2024

Five thousand people gather in the Minnesota Vikings football training grounds, upbeat music blaring from speakers on either side of an outdoor stage. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) volunteers offer water, wristbands, assistance to the families who include someone with type 1 diabetes (T1D), like our daughter Abby. Diagnosed at the age of five, she will turn 30 this year. I can’t believe it.

We’ve done the JDRF One Walk to raise money for diabetes research almost every year since she was seven. The only walks we missed were when she was in high school and her fencing team’s state tournament fell on the same weekend two years in a row. In the early years after Abby’s diagnosis, I felt like a zombie, never sleeping through the night for fear I would miss a low blood sugar. Abby had a way of whimpering in her sleep when she didn’t feel right, so I learned to sleep lightly, waking at the slightest sound of her voice. Her father or I went on every school field trip until she was in sixth grade, always willing to make sure she could do whatever anyone else was doing because we would be there in an emergency. Her insulin pump, acquired when she was 10, made her far more self-sufficient than daily insulin shots taken on a rigid schedule, but we had to talk the school nurse into trusting that she knew how to use it. When she went to college, I still woke in the night, wondering if she was all right, if she was safe, if she was happy.

Today, at the 2024 JDRF One Walk, I can’t help but be proud of this warrior daughter who is smart about managing her body, does what she wants in spite of occasional blood sugar drops or spikes, and isn’t letting a chronic condition stop her from pursuing a second bachelor’s degree or applying for promotions at Target where she works in human resources. Seeing her don a blue cape for the “T1D Warriors” who have dealt with type 1 diabetes for more than 20 years puts a lump in my throat.

The walk begins. Drum corps line the sides of the arch under which we pass to start out. Their beat makes us bop as we move along, following the path all the way around the training grounds, through a marshy area with frogs and birds all making noise on this May morning. Little kids stop to reach their hands into the water, sad when the frogs slip away. Lilacs bloom along part of the route, their scent heady. Some people take a shortcut to accommodate elders or little ones in their group. We walk the full 2.3 miles: Abby, myself, my husband, Abby’s partner Jo. When we arrive back at the start line, we are in time to hear the total raised here in Minnesota for diabetes research: nearly a million dollars. 

As we walk back to our car, I walk behind Abby and Jo, notice the way they look at each other. We helped Jo understand how to help if Abby had a blood sugar emergency and they’ve risen to the occasion as needed. Jo has been with us since Abby and they were both in high school. It makes my heart happy to know she’s not alone.

As we near our parked car, a red-winged blackbird lights on a pole along the driveway. His brilliant red patch glows in the sun, as if to remind us that bright spots are everywhere, if we just remember to look. 

And I do.

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Know a family struggling with type 1 diabetes? Maybe you, yourself, are struggling? Here are some resources you may find helpful: https://www.jdrf.org/t1d-resources/

UPDATE: JDRF has changed their name as of June 4, 2024. They are now known as Breakthrough T1D. Here is the new link for the updated website: https://www.breakthrought1d.org/