Day 20: April 20, 2010

We met Molly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Molly Diabetes Center in Hackensack is where we will be taking Jimmy for a series of JD classes and who will be monitoring his highs, lows and insulin dosages, etc... "Molly" is a beautiful woman, who at 11 years old was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. She wasn't invited to play dates, birthday parties etc... She couldn't have a cookie if she wanted to, and had to sneak sweets. Her and her family had NO formal support through her first years with JD, so from what I understand, her father developed the "Molly Center" to help families so that they could always have the support they NEED... Molly now has 3 children, and is quite a special individual. She was so open and caring and straightforward with the kids, and I think SO important especially for the 2 girls who were there - ages 10 and 11 (with whom Jenna got along so well!) Jimmy of course was in his own little world making shadow puppets in the way of the screen for the slide show (good luck to his kindergarten teacher in the fall...) But I sure did appreciate her! It felt like I had known her forever - I think she might be an angel on earth.

So, our first meeting was last night, and Jimmy met another boy his age who was diagnosed 3 days before him. They're both 5 and starting Kindergarten in September. They're both BIG boys who always get confused with being older, and get this - his parents are both in education (just like Jim and me!) They live close - 2 towns away, so hopefully it's a connection we can build on.

As we were getting ready for the class to begin, I was all set for a serious instruction session... Well, Molly walked in and introduced herself by saying, "Hi, I'm Molly" with a beautiful smile. Just like that, "Hi, I'm Molly." Well... remember what happened at church? There came the waterworks again! You would have thought I would be carrying around tissues after that, but of course I forgot... I thought this was going to be JUST a learning experience, I didn't expect it to be a life transforming! My sister came so she could be informed and help with Jimmy, and again, it was Julie to the rescue with tissues . I'm so lucky to have Julie who is always there for me and so many others!

I felt like Molly's message was that it's ok, you can do this, I'm here for you, reach out, he will grow up and have children and lead a productive life, and the JD will not define him. Thank God for Molly, a real angel!

Peace,
June