Friday, November 4, 2011

Everyday Angels

I believe people are brought into your life at the exact moment you need to meet them. This became very clear to me the day we brought Tommy home from the hospital after his diagnosis. I wanted him to feel like himself, I wanted him to know he wasn't "sick" so when I needed to get some things for him from shop rite I offered for him to come along. He was so excited to get out and shop rite with Mom is always one of his favorite outings. So we made our way through the aisles finding his favorite things but now sugar free. He was happy he could still have chocolate milk and ice cream - things he thought he'd never have again. We even found a sugar free "juice" (also known as crystal light) that he might like. Our everyday angel appeared when we were checking out. Tommy being Tommy was chatting with the man ringing up the order telling him he was going to get sticker when we were leaving etc. Tommy started to play with his hospital bracelet that I had forgotten to cut off when we got home and just said casually to the man, "I have diabetes". The man's response "me too!" then he asked "do you check your blood sugar?" Tommy told him I checked it and told him he was at "Valley" (which is what he called the hospital) and that he was getting some new juice to drink. The man still ringing up the food talked to him like it was nothing - like all kids he meets have diabetes and I kept bagging and just listened. When I was paying the bill the man told Tommy his daughter has diabetes and she got it when she was 4 too. Tommy said "cool!" and he and I both smiled. I wasn't happy that his daughter had diabetes but I was so happy that he shared that with us. Tommy talked about the man the whole ride home. That he had diabetes like his Dad and his daughter had it like him. He wondered if she went to Valley too. It was the first thing he told Tom when we got home. What was the chance of that man being at the check out lane I picked on that day - I guess he was meant to be our angel that day. It let Tommy know he wasn't alone, not the only 4 year old with diabetes and it let me know Tom and I weren't alone, there was other parents out there going through the same we were.

Just recently I found another everyday angel. At the walk-a-ton for the JDRF I told Tom how much I liked one of the team's t-shirts they had made for their walkers. The back said "I walk for ________" and each person wrote in who they were walking for. We happened to be walking behind the parents'. I kept looking at the shirts "I walk for my daughter" and it was both sad and uplifting to me. I was sad because I realized there were so many parents, like us, with a young child dealing with this and I feel for all of those children. I was also encouraged because we weren't alone and if they could do it so could we. I started talking to the mom toward the end of the walk and found out she too had 3 kids but her middle child was the one who has diabetes and all her kids were about the same age as mine. The little girl was diagnosed when she was 11 months and now is almost 2. She showed Tommy her pump and he was amazed she had one and was even more shocked that she was little like Allison. Tommy made his way to the bounce house and I exchanged information with the mom. Every meal since Tommy came home from the hospital I felt like I was the only in the world juggling this chaos and it is comfort that there is another mom in the same boat as me. On the bad days I think about that mom and her bubbly personality - taking things in stride and I take a deep breath and do the same. At a walk with thousands of people and I meet the mom who is in a sense, me....what are the odds?

Of course my 3 everyday angels who are a consistent source of love and happiness are happily sleeping upstairs.