A Day of Firsts – Celebrating World Diabetes Day with Nascar & Champagne

Mark it in the books – November 14th I celebrated my first World Diabetes Day. This foreign concept was brought to my attention shortly after co-founding the DDG. Why had I never heard of this glorious day? As the day approached, I pondered – How am I going to celebrate? The bar is high as I’m lucky to share this day with millions of fellow T1Ds internationally.

I started the day with my normal breakfast smoothie, followed by coffee while surfing T1D blogs. The message was universally clear…

Everyone needs a support group. You, your mother, your spouse, your friends and possibly your pet need an outlet to share or read about other PWD’s journeys. You might not want to contribute, but hearing from other PWDS was a reminder that I’m not alone and nothing me or my parent’s did – made me contract diabetes. This message was repeated time and time again in the following blogs:

• Beyond Type 1 – They posted a short documentary sharing a heartfelt message from T1Ds. It made me laugh and cry.
• Diabetes Mine – Informative and we dig associate editor, Mike Hoskins.
• diaTribe – Provides free cutting-edge diabetes insights and actionable tips. Wealth of knowledge for PWDs.
• T1 Everyday Magic – Great site for PWDs of all ages.
• Living Vertical – This crew does a phenomenal job sharing inspirational stories of PWDs who strive to challenge themselves athletically.
• Mysugar.com – Wonderful outlook on diabetes and great stuff from Scott Johnson.

After wrapping up a few good reads I organized my shoe closet (diabetes related post coming soon), popped a bottle of champagne and tuned into my first Nascar race. Why you ask? I’m an honorary pit crew member for Ryan Reed, car No. #16 whose sponsored my Lilly and the American Diabetes Association. I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat carsick at the end as he finished 23rd out of 200 cars. WAY TO GO!

CLICK HERE to check out a mini-podcast with Nascar driver, Ryan Reed.

It might seem weird, but I actually relished celebrating a day only a few chosen million folks get to share. It took me over 30 years to get here, but I’m thrilled to be a part of the diabetes community. Knowledge is power and there is strength in numbers. I look forward to next year…there might be a HUGE party in the works for 2016.

I would love to hear how you celebrated World Diabetes Day. Shoot us a message below, on Facebook, Twitter  or Instagram.