The Corner Booth

You know, we all need a break sometimes. A moment when we step away from "business as usual" and just appreciate life. Treadmills, traffic, board rooms and conference calls... we have to let them all drift away. Instead, we must learn again to appreciate the simple beauties. Sunrises, sunsets, smiles and sitting around leisurely. Loving those Moments of Wonderful, as a friend of mine might call them. So, as we enter into a busy summer season after an already-busy month of May, I hope you find those magic moments that bring out the best this world can offer and let you relax a little. In whatever ways you might need at the time.

When I heard that Lilly Diabetes was holding its first-ever Diabetes Blogger Summit, my initial thought was: " It's about flippin' time. " I'm an active patient advocate and blogger who's lived in Indianapolis for close to a decade and worked for about six years in downtown Indy, where Lilly is based, but haven't once been able to get a clear read on what the company is doing to engage the diabetes patient community, either online or offline. I have tried to communicate with them, but have either received no response or got the impression that they simply weren't interested in hearing my patient perspective. Since 2009, other companies have led the way in engaging with the diabetes community. But Lilly hasn't even gotten its feet wet. Not until recently. So I was pleased to see they were finally willing to open that door to bring about a dozen members of the Diabetes Online Community to Indianapolis for a summit at their headquarters ...

On this final day of Diabetes Blog Week 2012 (boo, so sad!), we're ending the week on a high note by blogging about our "Diabetes Hero." As Karen suggests: "It can be anyone you'd like to recognize or admire, someone you know personally or not, someone with diabetes or maybe a Type 3 . It might be a fabulous endo or CDE. It could be a D-celebrity or role model. It could be another DOC member. It's up to you — who is your Diabetes Hero?" Well, I wasn't sure what to write here. My mind wandered... It might depend on whether we're talking Avenger-like heroes, who save the planet and have cool gadgets to fight crime (do pumps, meters or awesome suits like Caleb envisions count?). Or whether we're talking more sentimental "role models" who we look up to for the life lessons they've taught us? Maybe it depends on the definition of a hero. Merriam-Webster gives us some food for thought: a mythical or legendary figure with gre...

  {Editor's Note: This post is not meant to make light of domestic violence , which is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. Rather, this post is just a guy relying on his sense of humor to help him cope with some of the worst effects of diabetes.} So, I beat my wife. Seriously. I've resorted to spousal abuse twice in the past few years and I can't guarantee it won't happen again. OK, hold on. Before I end up being the subject of police raids or adult protective services calls, maybe I should back up and explain. Don't worry: there've been good reasons. 1. I thought my wife was an alien trying to poison me with apple cider. If I didn't fight back, she might take over my body and clone me for nefarious alien invasion purposes. 2. She was a secret Communist spy trying to crush my patriotic views of the United States, evidenced by her trying to pin me down to confiscate my American-flag-skin-wearing insulin pump. Both situations led me...

As far back as I can remember, writing has been something I've loved doing. I'm told it's been a passion of mine from the earliest grades in school, and I remember writing my first Batman-style story, " The Diamond Men ," back in 3rd grade. That creative writing evolved into poetry and longer story writing as the years went on, before eventually taking a real world spin into journalism in middle school. That became my life, my passion, my career goal - and since graduating from college more than a decade ago I've been blessed to to be able to live my dream. Of course, diabetes has been a part of my life that whole time, too. Diagnosed with type 1 at age 5, just before kindergarten in March 1984. My writing through the various stages of my life has coincided with - and sometimes been fueled by - these adventures of Living With Diabetes. But I never wanted diabetes to spill into my job. Why would I, when I live with it all the time? The two roads were separ...