#FFL12 - Warm Fuzzies Wear Glasses

Have I mentioned Sugar's recent retinal exam?


The one she had at the 2012 CWD Friends For Life Conference?


You know...the one where I was completely fascinated by this...

Right.  That one.

Well...there was another finding we learned that I sort of glossed over.

Nothing major.  {Easy for *me* to say!}  No diabetes complications, or anything.  

Just that the doctor suspected she would need to be evaluated for glasses.

She heard him say it, and whipped her head around to look at me with panic written all over her face.  I kept a smile, and told her not to worry about it...we'd have her doctor check things out when we got home.  I didn't want to let it ruin the rest of our trip.

So...fast forward to a few days ago, when she failed the vision screening at her annual well-visit.  And then, the following day, when we got her in for an eye appointment to get a final verdict.

She was none too pleased.

"No one will think I'm pretty."

"What if someone tries to bully me?"

"What if they make fun of me on the playground because of having a pump AND glasses?"

I tried to tell her that nothing can steal her beauty.  I tried to reassure her that a bully would never be tolerated. I tried to say all the right things...  

"WELL IT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, M  O  M  YOU HAVE A PERFECT PANCREAS AND PERFECT EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ouch.

But she was right.

I found myself at a loss for words.  All I could do was shut up and hug her.

I posted something on Facebook -- you know -- because when a mom doesn't know what the heck to do with a situation, she turns to her friends to see if they've ever dealt with something similar.  I was looking for something encouraging to share with her, words of advice, someone to listen.

By the time we returned home from her appointment a short time later, my Twitter feed and Facebook notifications had exploded.  Soon a personal message from Tom Karlya arrived.  Reassuring comments, pictures of people with their pumps AND glasses...and chatter of Sara, Kim, and Jess collecting pictures for "a little video".

Well.  

Here.

Because I really can't find the right words to explain what happened...

 

All I can say is...

Well, I don't know what to say.  Thank you doesn't seem to cover it.

Watching it reminded me of what it felt like to be at FFL just a few short weeks ago.  The warm fuzzy feeling of community, friendship, and family.  The sense that everyone around you "gets it".  Smiling faces, silly faces, video snippets, and ROCKING dance moves {here's looking at you, Alecia}.  

I want to reach through the computer to hug each person...and each person who sent a pic that wasn't shown...and each person who wanted to send a pic, but didn't see the message in time...and each person who even thought they MIGHT have a pic to send...and each person who has watched it and commented somewhere.

Warm fuzzies.

I just want each of you to know how incredibly touched I am.  How touched WE are.

So...here's a peek of what last night looked like on our end...

I hope you can see the joy.  The unspoken words of sisterhood. 

(Also, if you happen to see a basket of unfolded laundry and shoes scattered about, just ignore them.)

Sugar takes things in quietly, and reflects on them by herself before sharing her feelings about something.  Tiara...well, Tiara is a firecracker who expresses herself with as much drama as possible at any given moment.  Tink is a comedian who finds any reason to laugh FIRST and then allows deeper emotions to emerge.

You may want to keep those personality traits in mind while you watch this.

From the bottom of our Candy Hearts...

Oh...PS...The "Beautiful" video was published on 7/25/12.  Sugar was diagnosed with T1D on 7/25/05.  Seven years of memories, thanks to insulin...and a million more memories to come, thanks to awesome friendships found in the DOC!