In the Trenches: Diabetes Dad

My Diabetes Superbowl

This weekend marks a ritual that is almost absurd in its definition of hype: the Superbowl (or since it is a trademarked name, should I say, ‘THE BIG GAME’). Why on every commercial across this great land leading up to it, buying TVs, beer, chips, yadda, yadda, yadda, you hear the announcer say, “for the big game” and not “for the Superbowl”? Because in most cases, they are not allowed to use the phrase “Superbowl,” as the NFL owns it.

I love the Superbowl…er…the big game. I love everything about it. I’m a huge sports fan. Being an NY Jets fan, you get the wonderful opportunity to have just enough energy vested in the game to make it interesting but not enough to get your heart broken–the price we pay because we have not been there since 1969. Some have never been there. So we get to enjoy the game on an entirely different level. No matter the outcome, even if we have a favorite, just give us a GREAT game.

And of course, the commercials.

The best part about Superbowl Sunday is the gathering of friends and having people over to enjoy the spectacle together. People with the same interest, having a great time. So much so that many municipalities across this country will see a drastic drop in water pressure come half time when the bathroom gets full use (go ahead, play with that one in your mind for a minute).

I also have my Superbowl in the diabetes world–actually, I have many. It is whenever I am among a group of people who are on the same page as me when it comes to diabetes. That page is trying to make a difference. For the most part, don’t you just love being among people who have a common goal? Maybe it’s a conference, a ride, a walk, a camp, an event, and even a black tie gala. Diabetes Superbowl. I get the same excitement. Don’t you?

It does not have to be a big-ticket item, just being around a group of people who are trying to make a difference by gaining knowledge or supporting a cause regarding diabetes. Excitement, fun, and a whole lot of great people in the same place at the same time.

Children with Diabetes Friends for Life in Orlando, each year just thrills me to no end. I have been volunteering with them for some time. To see babies and all ages above, all in one place to make their diabetes world better–wow.

I choose to find time to laugh; I choose to find time to enjoy. I choose to find the time to recharge, and I choose to do it as often as I can because life is here on earth, but once. I refuse to allow diabetes to rob us of anything I possibly can, and surely diabetes tries very hard to ruin anything in our path, doesn’t it? I will fight that as long as I have breath in me, and you should too.

This is an incredible weekend for me as I am on the west coast of Florida with an incredible group trying to plan something fairly big for the Naples area for November. Then on to being a keynote speaker in Orlando at the Florida Association of School Nurses. I shoot back to Miami Saturday night for the DRI’s Love and Hope Ball–all-in-all a Superbowl weekend of wonderful people in our diabetes world.

What is your diabetes Superbowl? What do you love to do? Even if it is not about diabetes, what is your idea of a Superbowl…er…I mean…The Big Game?

I am a DiabetesDad.