Yesterday my daughter Gillian decided to wear this shirt to school.

When we did the ADA walk last November, I made shirts with different sayings on them and Gillian’s says, “My Dad is #1” but right under the number sign there is the word “type” in very small letters.

When I got home and saw that she had been wearing it all day I asked her, “What made you want to wear that today?”


“I dunno, I just wanted to. A lot of kids asked about it and I told them all about diabetes.” She was so proud.

“Well what did you say?”

“Well, most of them know about diabetes but didn’t know there were different types so I explained the difference between type 1 and type 2 and stuff. It was cool and a couple of kids said they wanted to get shirts like mine.”

I while back I wrote about a little girl named “O” who was diagnosed with type 1 her first day of Kindergarten. She is Gillian’s friend's little sister. Gillian goes to her house after school on certain days of the week until my wife can pick her up. Little O asked Gillian about her shirt.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“Well, she knew she had type 1 and that there was a type 2 but she didn’t know the difference. I told her that her pancreas doesn’t produce insulin. She didn’t know she had a pancreas or what it did. I told her that it makes insulin. She wanted to know if hers was dead. I told her that a pancreas does other stuff but the insulin making part doesn't work. I told her that its like a having a squirt gun that also makes bubbles. The bubbles still work but the squirt gun part is broken. She kind of got it then.”

When I was diagnosed I thought I had this organ in my body that was just dead and rotting or something. That was how I perceived it. I am glad that Gillian told "O" that her body is not dead inside or that a part is no good, it is just malfunctioning.

I hugged her and said, “That is a good analogy Gill. You're quick thinker.”

“Thanks Pop Pop,” she said and then hurried off to Choir Practice.