It's a milestone - but not one worthy of celebration.

Charlie is approaching five years with this despicable disease.

We can't remember Charlie without diabetes. Charlie can't either. His earliest memories will contain images of blood being taken from his fingertips constantly, being poked with sharp objects and juice being forced down his throat in the middle of the night.

Soon we won't be able to remember a time when Charlie wasn't attached to an insulin pump; a time when tape and tubing and needle wasn't fastened to his body 24 hours a day like some sort of medieval torture device.

I want this to all be a dream that seemed so real.

I want diabetes to be forgotten. Gone so long, the word escapes me.

Gone so long, the word is mispronounced.

We need a cure. We need a cure now. 

If you are reading this, then you know. This is no way to live. Let's cure this stupid, no-good, dirty, rotten, derelict of a disease.

Our team, Charlie's Angels, will again participate in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF) Walk to Cure Diabetes on Sunday, October 26 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Come on by and walk with us if you plan to be in the area.

Our team has raised about $70,000 in four years. How great it would be to hit $100,000 in our fifth year. We're pulling out all the stops.

I even made one of them fancy videos. Check out the "Charlie Video" here. I recommend clicking "watch in high quality" just below the video box and to the right. Otherwise it's a tad choppy.