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Hey, everyone, I just found out about this and had to share it with you: Sarah lives in my home-town of San Diego. We went to church with her. Here we are when I saw her last..
I love it! Sarah is just gorgeous, on the inside and the out! Please consider supporting her! Here is what she wrote to me:
I'm back. This is last minute, but I'm doing it. 2009 stretched me in ways I've never experienced before. I'll be experiencing the aftermath for a while. I stopped training altogether but I did get back in to swing dancing! I signed up for the Carlsbad marathon (half), thinking that would motivate me to start running again. I want to get back into the things I learned to enjoy just recently in life.
Well, it's four days before the event and I haven't trained. But you know what? I'm going to try. I'm not in it for a personal best and I won't be pushing myself real hard. I might even stop and eat a taco when I get hungry. But I've got a friend flying out from Denver to support me, and another friend driving from Arizona. What's so important about this event that they would go to this length to join me? We all have diabetes. And we're friends.
I'm running with a team of about 60 diabetics this weekend at the Carlsbad marathon. Our team is Glucomotive. One fella is blind. A blind diabetic runner. Ponder that. Seriously.
How is it we all get this privilege and opportunity to learn from each other, push each other, and bond? insulinDependence.org This organization has changed my life. I have been passionate about it since they came to San Diego just over 2 years ago. I was even on staff (voluntarily) early last year. This is a young organization with a huge heart and high but very reachable hopes. This is a necessary organization for the diabetic community. It has been missing far too long.
I went with insulinDependence to Costa Rica last year. I did not fundraise for that trip. (Now that I think of it, I didn't fundraise for anything 2009! Whoa!). 12 strangers met and at the end of the trip we left as family. One gal had never seen the ocean before. She surfed. She didn't even want to go - her sister signed her up for the trip!
I can't tell you how often people have connected to this group with trepidation and anxiety. Adult diabetics who had never met other diabetics. Personally, I can't imagine. This disease is too hard and frustrating to figure out on your own. What an opportunity to have available for that individual. As a diabetic, we have to be our own advocate - in the doctor's office, with health insurance, and for the future of progressing in treatments. As an educator, I often tell people that with this condition you are forced into being a scientist. Because of insulinDependence, the synergy of self-advocacy and experiential science allows us to share solutions that work when dealing with diabetes and exercise. More than that, it allows life-long friendships to form. A social network that can be tapped into for multiple reasons - even if it's for a laugh or a need to vent.
Please support this organization with me. You can make a donation through my campaign page. My goal is $500 in the next four days. Pretty awesome, huh? Let's make it happen.
Just to forewarn you, I will be sending another fundraising letter next month as I campaign for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. Yes, I'm going to be riding my bike again! (FINALLY!!) Want to join my team? Think about it.
Thank you for your treasured consideration.
With Love and Respect (and exogenous insulin and calloused fingers),
Sarah Jane Johnson
You can contact Sarah by emailing her at healthydiabetics@yahoo.com,
or you can email me and I'll contact Sarah.