My D Blog Week ~ #7 ~ Hero, By Definition

The word 'hero' can be defined many ways. 

In fact, Merriam Webster has seven definitions for the word.  

They are:

"a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability"

"an illustrious warrior"

"a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities"

"one who shows great courage"

"the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work"

"the central figure in an event, period, or movement"

"an object of extreme admiration and devotion"

Now, I think any parent of a kid with D could arguably say that their kid is a hero.  And I would totally agree.  Our kids are amazing.

They are totally endowed with great strength.  Anyone who has had to wrestle a little one (or not so little one) to give them a shot could attest to that.  But there's also that inner strength that they have.  Strength to put up with the looks and the questions and the BG testing and all that other stuff that never stops with D.  It takes a lot of strength to face that each and every day.

They are without a doubt illustrious warriors in the daily fight with a disease that doesn't play by the rules.

They are surely admired for their achievements.  Have you ever been amazed at what our kids can do when their numbers are all wonky and there's really no choice but to just DO whatever it is that has to be done?  The fact that they deal with D day in and day out is worthy of admiration.

Now the noble quality part of it totally depends on the day...some days D just sucks and there's no 'noble' way of dealing with it. :)

Showing great courage?  Pu-Leez!  Kids who deal with a chronic illness (even when they look perfectly healthy) are beyond courageous in my book.  Sure, they do what has to be done to keep themselves alive, but finger pokes and shots and site changes and pod changes and sensor insertions take a TON of courage!

I don't know about your kids (well, I do know about them, but whatever!), but my Bean is most certainly part of a dramatic work.  Drama, drama, drama!!  Sure, some of it's just being an eight year old girl, but when you add that layer of D into the mix, well, the drama can get way out of hand sometimes.  Low BGs bring over reactions, high BGs bring over reactions.  You just can't win for losing sometimes!

Our kids are front and center in the movement of raising money for a cure, educating the masses, and advocating for understanding.  They are why we do what we do.  Why we write letters and emails.  Why we have bake sales or garage sales or whatever sales.  Why we meet with 'the powers that be' to have the big bucks spent on research to improve technology and ultimately find a cure.  Why we join together for events. Without the faces, the movement wouldn't move forward.  Our kids make D real to those who might otherwise not pay attention.

And like every parent, our kids are certainly the object of our extreme admiration and devotion.  We see what they live with and can't help but be impressed.  We make sure their carbs are counted and boluses are calculated.  We are up in the wee hours of the morning to check BGs to make sure they are safe until morning.  Having a kid with D takes the devotion thing up a notch.

So, is Bean my hero?  You bet she is.  

But so are your kiddos and those 'no-longer-kiddos' with D and you amazing D-Moms and D-Dads.  

I am honored to be among some amazing heroes!!