Running for Diabetes

With school off to a flying start, I've neglected one of my favorite new things to do--blog. With the weekend being here and the kickoff of the NFL season, I've spent most of the day being a guy and watching football.

Yesterday morning, my family and friends came together as a team to walk for diabetes. It was a beautiful morning here in Amarillo. We had rain overnight and the morning air was damp and cool. I would rather have been hugging my pillow at 9:00 am on a Saturday morning, but when you've got a wife and kid that have diabetes you become a crusader, of sorts.

I think I told you how I ran/walked/death-crawled 50 miles last year to raise money and awareness for diabetes. 3 miles seemed such a short distance to travel, but for the 1000+ walkers that showed for Saturday's walk, it was a giant step closer to ending this dreaded disease. My team, Melissa' Marvelous Miracles, raised $630. I'm sure the final tally for the walk will be in the thousands.

Today's blog centers around my hope that diabetes will be cured in the near future--tomorrow would be nice--and my plans to do all I can to bring that to reality.

The other day, while running at the gym, a staff member for our local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) asked me if I would be willing to run on the treadmill for a little bit if she could get the corporate sponsors to pay per mile. Little bit equals 8 hours. All I could say was, "When do we start?" In case you haven't noticed, I'm nuts. I'll do anything, anywhere, at anytime to cure my daughter. As such, I also have pitched an idea to the local JDRF director about me running/walking/bike running from Amarillo, TX to Washington, DC next summer. I'm waiting for her to approach the board with this for a response.

I don't know about you, but I don't think I've ever had a true calling in life until now. I'm a teacher, but I don't feel a calling to education. Yes, I've been called to be a follower of Christ, but when I look at my life's work there just hasn't been the "calling" I hear so many others say they've experienced in life, like teaching or missionary work.

But now, with a daughter facing real life and death health issues as a type 1 diabetic, my calling is crystal clear. It came to me while running this afternoon in my fave running spot--Wolflin. Finding the cure for diabetes has got to be my passion. Nothing else matters but helping my daughter and wife overcome this. My stepfather has already lost two toes due to complications with his diabetes and I know dozens that are afflicted and struggling with similar issues.

Therefore, I will run to Washington, or New York, or Timbuktu for that matter if it brings about a speedy end to what over 14 million Americans face each and every day.

If I were to ask 100 people to raise their hands if they knew someone with diabetes, or they were afflicted, my guess is almost the whole group would have their hands in the air.

If you don't have it, someone you know does. There are over 20 million out there undiagnosed so they are all around you. It's a time bomb waiting to go off. In my daughter's case, it exploded one December day. The shrapnel left its scars on her body and in her mind.

So, I will keep running for diabetes as long and as far as necessary. I hope you will join us as we fight this battle. It's a battle we're going to win, for my daughter's sake and the sake of many of my students, parents, and family members.

Diabetes is one battle worth fighting and we WILL triumph. The stakes are high, the margins slim, and the payoff will be jubilant.

Take care and may God bless you.

Ever Forward!!!



TFR