My daughter was diagnosed at 5 years old (she is now 28) and I can say that diabetes never held her back. There are many things that stand out for me looking back, from trading her haloween candy with her grandfather, to that same granfather buying her a pony to make life with diabetes easier, but a few things really stand out. As we all know people don’t understand or know much about diabetes so when Kristy was in school she used it as an opportunity to show people what diabetes is and what her daily routine was. Every year we would ask the teacher if Kristy could talk about diabetes to her class, and every year Kristy brought in her favorite stuffed dog and went through everything from finger poking to giving that poor stuffed dog a needle. When she would have to poke her finger she would let the kids “push the button” and she made her situation inclusive. I would like to think that more people know about diabetes because of my daughter. Kristy rode and showed horses up until this past April, when she sold her horse to pursue a career in policing. Although she isn’t an officer yet I see and here about her training every day and I know that diabetes will not stop her. Aside from the training, she also rows with a local club for fun and competiton. I know that her diabetes also gives her something in common with her theraputic riding students (yes she does that too!) Although many of her students have different challenges in their lives I think it helps knowing that their instructor also has challenges. They have seen Kristy have to go “check her sugar” or teaching while drinking a juice box because her sugars were to low. My daughter is a champion because her diabetes never stopped her but more impotantly because she has used it to educate and to find a common bond with other kids.