I am writing this today to reflect on some amazing things that are going on. The past two weeks have been incredible in the eyes of future historians. Messages shared by so many people have either united us as a people, or divided us further. It’s really about your perspective, and how you choose to view this powerful dialog. Beyond this turbulent time, though, we have a reason to hope as people, as aspiring humanitarians, as altruists, as flag bearers of the Golden Rule.
You see, science plays a big part in my life, on different levels; 1. I work in a lab, with amazing scientists, many of whom with intellects that would blow you away. 2. I am married to a pretty kick-ass scientist, and this amazing relationship steers my ship through smooth seas and rocky shores alike (this last year alone has been a test she has aced, mind you). 3. Our son Davis depends on science. And math. Not because it’s a great interest to him (it is, in some ways), but because his life depends on science and math; on advances in science and math. As a Type One Diabetic, he cannot take for granted the things most of us can. For this third and final reason why science is important, I implore you to not overlook it. You may have personal feelings one way or the other about the importance of science in your own life, but you cannot deny our reliance of it. Every week, new discoveries are made that lead us closer to making the management of diabetes even easier. Furthermore, it leads us closer to a cure, and prevention of new cases. 95 years ago this week, scientific persistence and discovery led to finding a way to deliver insulin to humans (props to Doctors Banting & Best). Because of this discovery, Davis (and so many awesome kids and adults like him) get to live, plain and simple. The thing is, many of you see Davis, knowing he has Type One Diabetes, and think he is just fine, that he isn’t suffering or anything. Frankly, that’s kind of cool (for his sake), but also reduces the fact that we sometimes forget how difficult it can be for him. Our goal from day one of his official diagnosis (12/12/12) has been normalcy. We want nothing less than for Davis to live a normal life, to be able to experience what every other kid his age does. To this point, our family has been quite successful. He doesn’t use it as an excuse, he doesn’t seek attention or pity, he simply wants to be Davis, with his friends, playing. I am proud of him for this. WE ARE proud of him for this! Today, July 29, 2016, marks exactly 100 days until the JDRF One Walk, being held Sunday, November 6, on City Island. We are officially kicking off our drive to help fund a cure. As has been the case the past couple of years, we have given ourselves a head start through the amazing support we get from our Cabaret Night. This year’s event provided $3,626.72 towards our goal. We are currently just shy of $4,000, which we will hit within the next couple weeks after a small grant from my employer. That makes us halfway to our ultimate goal of $9,000 (we did it last year, so why not again??). We kindly ask you to just think about how you can help. There are some simple ways to start: join our Walk Team (Dumbledore’s Army for Davis – but you know that by now!), and ask others to sponsor you in the Walk. Maybe your employer offers dress-down days that people can participate in if they make a donation to the charity of the month (convince them how awesome our Walk team is!). Be creative – I am sure you can think of other ways to help us. And if not, check out some ways you can help. Here you can find out how to join our team, how to simply donate (and utilize matching funds from your employer), how to find out more about Cabaret Night, how to secure a team tee shirt (once again, I am hopeful we will have a new logo for this year’s walk! With a new logo comes a new shirt and maybe other swag! Just imagine a cool logo of your favorite JDRF One Walk Team on a Yeti!), and of course, a list of several other ways you can make a difference. So as we continue to witness history this year, don’t you think it would be amazing to say you were PART of history? To say that because of your help, a cure for Type One Diabetes was made possible. Then kids won’t have to find scientific and mathematical ways to live normal lives, they can simply live normal lives. I thank you in advance for considering how you can support our cause. And I apologize for such a long initial blog post. Two weeks of listening to political speeches must have rubbed off on me. Let’s make a YUUUGE difference over the next 100 days. In our case, It Takes an Army — Dumbledore’s Army!
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Mark HendersonI'm a Type One Dad, but my emphasis is on the dad part. Archives
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