7 years of going to diabetes camp. It's Grace's summertime ritual. She looks forward to going all year. Six days of communing with fellow Type 1-ers. Six days of hanging out with her DBFF (Diabetes Best Friend Forever), Lily. These are the days that get her through all the rest of her days. These six days sustain.
She sees Lily at check-in time and she smiles the biggest smile. She has gifts. She hugs and they fall right into their best-friend-ness. The kind that doesn't have any awkward beginnings. The kind you have with an old friend where you just jump right in. They've spent the last seven summers together. I believe they were best friends from the moment they met, seven years ago. They clicked that first summer and been together ever since. It's magic.
Grace had a great week - they swam, hiked the long trails at camp, had campfires and s'mores, went to carb counting and nutrition sessions where she says she learned a lot, did arts and crafts together, had scavenger hunts and singalongs. She changed her own Pod (she does anyway) and kept her own logs of what she ate and dosed all week.
She comes back energized. She comes back OK with diabetes and living her life. She comes back knowing more about what life is like all along the age spectrum. She sees older teens with D and sees what their lives are like - full, rich, involved - and she thinks about what her life will be like.
Seven years of camp. Worth every minute.
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