This past Sunday was JDRF Day with the Charlotte Checkers hockey team. They call it Family Fun Day, but after we saw a bunch of his summer buddies, Benny decided it should be called Checkers Diabetes Camp.
This is the event where we saw our first insulin pumps in action. I remember sitting on the floor of the arena four years ago with a little boy named Noah and his dad, Jon. Benny was two and very curious. Noah seemed like such a cool customer; I was impressed and reassured. It's exactly the kind of thing you hope to get out of an event like this (and now I'm on the JDRF Board with Jon).
Before the game this year, we met the Charlotte D-Buddies for lunch. This is a great group for families with younger children with diabetes. Funny to see everyone at the table pull out their meters to check at the same time!
Huge thanks to the Checkers, of course. They are one of the most family-friendly sports teams you'll ever see. There's always a kid riding the Zamboni before the game and they have tons of giveaways and crazy stuff going on. Benny stood by the ice during the warm up, and a player tossed him a puck!
The best part of the day was hanging out with Jon Wilson. You've seen his Wilson's World segments on Fox News Rising (and he's part of the WBT family). He's also the official Chief Fan Rouser for the Checkers. I sent Benny over to yell, "Mr. Wilson!"
Wilson was nice enought to put Benny on the big screen! Not easy to get a good picture of that giant TV, but you get the idea.
There's nothing fun about having diabetes. When Benny can see everyone around him checking blood sugar, counting carbs and getting insulin, it makes a big difference. Thanks, Checkers, for giving us a great day at "camp!"
(After posting, I heard from some D-Buddies families. I'll share their pictures here as I get them)
This is Evelyn and her little sister Addy showing off their Checkers posters. Addy was diagnosed with type 1 last March at age 3. You can read more about their family here.