Our carefree, “normal” lifestyle as we knew it ended on New Year’s Day 2010. Two days later, our 3 year old daughter Samantha Jayne was diagnosed with type 1. It was caught early, but still, our life became a series of counting carbs, monitoring blood sugar through finger pricks, injections, and constant worry. At the time, it seemed crazy that our otherwise “normal” toddler could no longer freely eat whatever she wanted or attend the daycare she always had. Our lives were changed forever.

We heard about JDRF through their “Bag of Hope” that Samantha received in the hospital. By the following fall, we had our own family walk team and proudly participated to raise money towards a cure for Samantha.

Two years later, in November 2011, our younger daughter, Kristina Nicole, was diagnosed at the age of 2½. Our walk team amended its name to include both girls, and have since become even more active with the Long Island Chapter of JDRF. Our daughters are able to attend events and meet others like them, and we have turned to JDRF for help writing 504 plans, training school personnel, and numerous other resources.

As parents, we remember the heartache and tears shed over their diagnoses, but our girls have taken it like champions. Although unfortunate, T1D is a bond they will always share. No matter how many times we prick their fingers, inject insulin into their tiny bodies, or quickly provide them with snacks to raise their blood sugar when they are low, they continue to smile, never hold it against us, and take it in stride. Birthday parties, sleepovers, school trips, after school activities, and even random stops at fast food or sit down restaurants are full of planning and calculations. Our nights are spent correcting highs, treating lows, and hoping numbers can be maintained overnight. Food is both our enemy and savior, and the thin line we dance daily, even hourly at times, is one we are forced to carefully balance.

Please consider making a Fund A Cure donation in honor of Samantha & Kristina and others living with T1D by clicking here.