Thankful for What I Have

I'm glad i have diabetes...

It's not often that I say that, and i don't know that I've ever said that. I've said before that it's been a blessing to have diabetes because of it having opened up doors I never thought possible; a passion for exercise, an interest in others, not to mention a paycheck. But glad i have diabetes?

Then I woke up on Friday, and learned of the crash of Continental 3407 in Buffalo - the crash occurred only a few miles from my house, less then a few actually. I was sound asleep when it happened, but the sirens went on all night. I was so tired I never made the connection that they had been going on for hours until i woke the next morning.

Seeing the reports from national news shows on the streets I've run on for the last 6 months was, well, like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from . My mornings in the car are usually filled with local news radio of which streets to avoid in Buffalo or the latest saga of our down and out Buffalo teams, but instead they were replaced with press conferences from the local departments on the status of the crash site.

Photo from AP Photo by Don Heupel

The city of Buffalo has a much smaller feel to it then you would think, and Clarence is epitome of that. People wave to you from their yards as you drive by and those walking their dogs will stop and have conversations with you. My wife and I are new to the area, so the number of people we know are small. But the feeling that we have lost is still there. It's like finding out you've lost family that you never had a chance to meet.

I went for a run this morning down the bike trail where i usually do my long runs. The trail weaves through Clarence, intersecting with all of the roads in town. Many of them were blocked off because of the crash, cars couldn't get through but those on the trail could. To see the roads blocked off and with the flashing lights of the police blockade was numbing. I could have run down the street to to see more, but didn't need to.

The investigators are already searching for the reasons why the crash occurred; ice, wind, mechanical, human error, maybe even a combination of all of them. We always search for the reasons. And even if they find the cause, many will still want to know just why this happened - not the actual cause, but the larger question of why tragedies occur. Events like this cause people question their faith, others are drawn closer to theirs. As a child I often used to wonder why I got diabetes, and while running today I found myself asking those same questions about how something like this could occur. Questions I guess that can take lifetime to answer, if they can be.

I came home after running and hugged my wife. The times are few, but today, diabetes feels like a small burden when looking at a much larger picture of life.

I Need a Buddy

My first Ironman Triathlon in Madison, Wisconsin last year was one of the most memorable moments of my life. And you know what? It had nothing to do with the race itself - it all had to do with crossing the finish line with my IronKiD.

IronKiDz was a program through Insulindependence that enabled a handful of children with Type I diabetes to participate in an adventure of a lifetime. It began about the time us athletes began training for the Ironman. An athlete was paired up with a child to serve as a mentor throughout the year. Then the week before the Ironman, the children were flown out to Wisconsin for a three day river canoe trip. The adventure ended at the Ironman where the IronKiDz got to cross the finish line with their Triabetes triathlete.

It was such a blast we're doing it again....Insulindependence has renamed the program but it's still going to be the same life changing experience, for the kids and the triathletes. This year, Triabuddies (our new name for the program) will take our younger counterparts on a 3-day sail- and kayaking journey to the Channel Islands off the California Coast. And once again, it will end at an Ironman Triathlon, this one in Arizona, where the kids will get the experience of crossing the finish line with their partner triathlete.

So I'm looking for a Triabuddy. Are you out there? If interested, click the following link for more information.


The Triabetes IronKiDz Project from Andiamo Productions on Vimeo.