The Day She found A Cure

Will I always have diabetes, Mom?

I've had to answer a few difficult questions from Jenna since she was diagnosed and I’m sure to be confronted with many more in the years to come. I make a point of answering the questions that either of my girls have regarding any subject with age-appropriate honesty—even the tough ones. They deserve that. So when Jenna asked this question I told her that unless a cure is found she will always have diabetes.

We talk about the possibility of a cure whenever we discuss the annual JDRF walk. We explain that the reason we walk is to raise money to help find a cure. But I never really gave much thought as to what the term find a cure might mean to a three year old.

Last November I was with Jenna at the pharmacy waiting for an order of diabetes supplies to be filled. It was the week of November 14--World Diabetes Day. Displays had been set up in the pharmacy advertising various blood sugar meters and diabetic cookbooks. The word “Cure” had been cut out of black paper and the letters placed on a display table. Jenna asked me what the letters spelled. I told her they spelled Cure. Jenna looked at me with such genuine excitement and innocence and exclaimed “Mom! I found a cure!”

The simultaneous urge to laugh and cry canceled each other out and all I could do—all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her tightly, kiss her and tell her how much I love her. Then I did what any good blogger would do; I snapped a picture on my phone to accompany the post I knew I would eventually be compelled to write.