A Hero Among Us

I talk a lot about my youngest daughter, Jenna, on this blog.  You know, the one with diabetes.  But this post is mostly about my oldest daughter, Jazmine.   She is one special kid.  Once you read this, I'm sure you'll agree.

Yesterday morning Jazmine and Jenna were downstairs playing.  I had showered and was drying my hair when Jazmine appeared at the bathroom door, wide-eyed and looking intense.

"Jenna was all whiny, weepy and crying for you, Mom, so I checked her and she's 2.8" she explains in a calm, yet earnest manner.

Before she even got the entire sentence out I was sprinting down the hall toward the kitchen to raid the stash of carb tabs I keep in the coffee/plastic dish/spare keys cupboard. (There's no rhyme or reason to my kitchen cupboards, in case you are wondering.)

"Good job, honey!  You're one awesome big sister!  I'm so proud of you!"

I grabbed a couple raspberry carb tabs and headed downstairs.  Jazmine, beaming with pride for her cleverness and quick-thinking, was hot on my heals.

"I want to give her the carb tabs , Mom."

"No problem!"  I handed her the carb tabs and let her take the lead.  I'm not exactly sure why it was important for Jazmine to give Jenna her antidote but I respected her need to see this mini-crisis through to the finish.  She had single-handedly identified the signs, took the initiative to conduct a blood sugar check, interpreted the results to be low and requiring immediate intervention, then quickly alerted me.  So I hung back and watched as Jazmine fed her little sister two carb tabs and offered comforting words to her while she chewed the chalky-sweet remedy she so badly needed.

We sat together for a while afterward, the three of us.  I held Jenna in my arms as the sugar worked its way through her system, easing the symptoms of her hypoglycemic state.  I told both my girls how proud I was of them - Jenna for allowing her big sister to do the blood sugar check, and Jazmine for being so responsible and using such good judgement at the tender age of 6.

When I shared this with my facebook friends I received some wonderful feedback that I was sure to share with my girls.  Someone said what a lucky Mommy I am.

I couldn't agree more.