I’m going back to New York City this week for a meeting with my JDRF co-workers. I will be there, at the National Office on Wall Street, for Thursday and Friday. I always enjoy going to NYC. NYC is all that people say it is and more. It is, from what I’ve gathered and experienced, an unbelievable experience for any human being.

One of the reasons why I am so blown away by NYC is that it is COMPLETELY opposite of what my regular lifestyle and routine represent here at home.

I live in Columbia, Missouri. Basically, like I described New York above as, “all that people say it is” Missouri is, well, all that you imagine and think that it is too! It is very much a “country” and “small-town-USA” type of atmosphere (just probably not as bad as you think. We don’t all drive trucks and go cow tipping on the weekend and all the women don’t chew tobacco…oh wait, I drive a truck, I know people who’ve gone “tipping” :), and I dated a girl once who chewed!)

On the weekends I enjoy working on the farm and getting together with my grandparents and family and I enjoy being in the “country”. Usually we eat thick greasy steaks or some other variety of farm cooked soul food, and we mix cheap whiskey and soda and cigars.

The farm is my heaven, my haven, my get-away, my retreat from the daily stresses of diabetes and the daily work schedule. Out there, at the farm, I can take a walk in the woods, breathe in the fresh and clean country air (under the influence of a quality sinus pill), and just chill.

New York, on the other hand, is bustling, busy, and bad…bad in a good kind of way though. New York is the site of a population EXPLOSION! It is a place where you’ll see every type of person, every color, every shape, and every size. I love it. You feel very alive when your there. Every time I’m there I have very full days and I always remember at the end of the day, when I finally get to my hotel room, I just stand at the window and look out at the city lights and the Statue of Liberty and everything. I look out on the happening’s on the streets below, even at the latest (or earliest) of hours, and I’m just thankful and blown away.

I get overwhelmed with emotion at how amazing everything is and I feel very lucky be able to have the opportunity to experience something like being in New York City in the heart of the financial district.

This week’s trip to the National Office should be no different and I’m looking forward to going and traveling and hopefully having another sweet adventure. Besides being in the city, it’s always uplifting to see what all is happening on the diabetes front and all the people working to improve it.