Adam Bauer

Before me, every person with type 1 diabetes in my family had given up on taking care of their health, lost a limb, gone blind from diabetic retinopathy, and died of a heart attack before ever living to be 30 years old. I spent most of my youth seeing their reckless self-destruction, and assuming that I was guaranteed to give up and die by 30 as well. However, this year I will be 35 years old. There are days when I am just so tired, and can understand why my family members gave up. However, I haven’t given up yet, and even had a new record low A1C this year. I’ve lived 5 years longer than I could have ever imagined, and I feel that is worthy of celebration.