Dear Diabetic...

Okay so I took a poll of how many of you had ever had a penpal and the results surprised me. There were more of you that said YES than no. I had never had a penpal until I was diagnosed with diabetes almost three years ago. When I was diagnosed, I didn't know anyone who had type 1 diabetes and I felt completely alone. However, my eyes were opened to the wonderful resources provided by Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. There is a "kids" page where you can be matched up with penpals from all over the world that have diabetes or live with someone with diabetes.

I am happy to say that this program is what got me through my first year with diabetes. It was hard going through all of these changes with no one around me that understood what it felt like. These people became my best friends that year. I even had one steady penpal from Australia! It is all done safely through the website so that no personal information is given out unless you choose to do so. Once I got to know these people better, I gave them my e-mail address so it was easier to contact each other. I know he probably doesn't remember me, but Brendan (from Australia) was like my diabetic hero when I was first diagnosed. He helped me with so much just by giving me information and telling personal stories. I suddenly felt like I wasn't alone anymore.

I know many people may think that having a penpal is weird, but in reality it is a wonderful thing. To be able to communicate with someone based purely on the letters is a gift. There is no judgment, because these people cannot see what you look like or how you talk or dress...they only know how you write. It is completely unbiased opinion and advice, which is also another amazing thing. It is almost like they are blindfolded while forming an opinion about you. I didn't base every conversation with these people on diabetes. We talked about everything...including significant others, schoolwork, sports, hobbies...anything you can think of.

I sort of fell apart from the penpal system after that first year, but I am trying to get back into it. Maybe now that I am more educated and more comfortable with my diabetes, I can help someone else in the way that Brendan (and so many others) helped me. I guess the reason that penpals have become less dominant in my life is because of the support system I have developed within my friends and family. They have all done their best to learn about diabetes and what I go through, so they are more knowledgeable and can help me if I need it. Some people have even done their own research and come to me with questions. I love this because it shows they really care and want to understand my situation.

I'm going to end this with a fun little exercise. I know most people won't do this, but it is worth a try. And if you actually complete all of these steps, it would seriously make my day!
1. Go to gmail.com and make a gmail account if you have not already.
2. Come back to my blog homepage and click "follow" if you have not already.
3. Make a blogger account (even if you are not going to blog), so that you can leave comments (because my activity requires that).
4. Open this link and scroll down to where it says Additional Resources and click on Diabetes Simulator
5. Complete this project for a full day (or even a half a day if you can't take a whole day)
6. When you are done, come back to this blog post and leave a comment telling me you did it and what your reactions to this are

I know you are not required to do this, and it goes out of your way, but please try this for me. If you don't want to do the whole project, at least read what the link has to say. Thanks guys!

-Ash