Follow Your Path
The story goes…
I was recently driving from Brooklyn to Maine when during the sixth hour of my trip I noticed a sign for a flea market. I’m always a sucker for a good flea market stop, but I was trying to make it back for the 5pm service and didn’t have much time. However, I had a feeling that I should stop and so I did.
I pulled into the parking lot, drove down the long dirt road, parked my car and began to walk. I didn’t necessarily know where I was going and obviously I wasn’t looking for anything but I knew I had to be there. I was walking without a purpose but with such a purpose. There were probably 300 booths so I just took it all in. I kept walking until I saw one booth tucked away in the furthest corner. A woman sat in a chair with a scribbled cardboard sign that said, “Something something something DIABETES something something something.”
Obviously, the rest of the sign didn’t matter as the word that caught my attention was “diabetes.” I moved closer until I could finally read the sign. It read something along the lines of helping a little girl with type 1 diabetes who could not maintain her blood sugar without her Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). I obviously went into quick-flight ninja mode and asked the woman to tell me the story behind the sign. She said that her young granddaughter with type 1 had been on a camping trip, went into a lake for a swim and left her CGM receiver on a rock. When she returned, her device had mysteriously disappeared (personally I think a black bear ate it). After the woman told me about her granddaughter, I told her that I too had type 1 and I pointed to my “Drop” hat on my head and the tattoo on my finger to let her know that she was not alone. Immediately, she burst into tears and I told her it was okay and that we were going to fix this problem!
I picked up the phone and called one of my co-ninjas (Sarah Lucas) to help me come up with a plan on how we could help. Sarah mentioned that her daughter Mary had just upgraded her Dexcom and they had an extra receiver. Within two days, the little girl in Maine received a new receiver thanks to the Lucas’ in California.
Beyond Type 1 was built on the principles of community, education and support. I also want to leave you with this…follow your path as you never know who you may come across. This day had to be one of the best days of my life. I cried on the way home not because I was sad, but holy sh*t was it moving. Guy driving, guy stops, walks thru yard, reads sign, tears of sadness turn into tears of joy.
Go beyond.
