I do. It’s made by two young type 1s who’ve started a small company calleddiabetes happens to help enhance the lives of young diabetics. Right now, through the sale of their T-shirts, (on their site, look under ‘news’ and send an email) they’re sponsoring a young type 1 girl or boy for a week at Chris Dudley’s Basketball Camp.  They’ll learn how to take better care of their diabetes, and have an incredible week playing ball. Not bad for one’s self-esteem, me thinks. On that note, I think my cool T-shirt is one of the cheekiest, most pride-puffing ways to say, “Yeah, I got diabetes, I got my head on straight, I’m handling it, so what?” Guess I read a lot into a T-shirt.

I saw this T-shirt at the Children with Diabetes conference this July while in the banquet hall eating dinner. A girl, who looked to be about 18, ran past my table wearing it. It was love at first sight; I had to have it. I waited for her to return to the hall, knowing she would pass my table again. When she sprinted back in, I stopped her gayly calling out, “Excuse me, I love your shirt!” She stopped, smiled broadly, and bent down for the question she knew was coming. She told me she’d gotten the shirt in the Exhibition Hall. I thanked her, gave her a thumbs up, and put ‘Exhibition Hall T-shirt’ on my Urgent Vendor Sleuthing List for the next morning.

To my disappointment there were no vendors in the Exhibition Hall selling my beloved T-shirt. Finally I learned they had been there the first day but alas, were gone. All I had to go on now to track down my shirt were two words, ‘diabetes happens.’ But I couldn’t forget those words. They’d been reverberating in my head like a mantra since I’d seen them. A little internet surfing once home, brought up the the information I needed. I emailed Tyler, sent a check, and my shirt arrived shortly thereafter. Only days later I was meeting ‘A’ (see below) in the city and it was the perfect occasion to visibly wear my pride.

I felt happy from the moment the navy cotton slipped over my head. A few pairs of eyes read my chest throughout the day. No declarations from anyone, but I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Take that, world,” I thought. “I am one proud diabetic!” If a shirt can have this affect, I’ll have to talk to Tyler about a coat, bed sheets, hmmm………. an umbrella would be nice.