Did you ever go somewhere and just feel like you instantly belonged? That's the feeling you get when you are at Friends for Life! It's been well over a month since we've been there, but we're ready to go back. From the moment I arrived, I saw pumps, those testing their blood sugar, and I got that feeling of 'normal'. It was an amazing moment to take in to be around those that just get it.
My feeling of belonging
Where else could you go and have an Olympic Athlete read a story to your kids. Yes, you did hear me right, an OLYMPIC ATHLETE. Not only is Kris Freeman an Olympic hero, he is Clifford's hero and Clifford had the opportunity to meet his hero in person. He was amazing and kind, and even let Clifford try on his Olympic jacket!
Clifford and his T1 Hero Kris Freeman
Everyone was excited about being there, just not the T1 kiddos.
Anna Showing off her FFL Name tag
Mickey Pancakes for Breakfast!
The kiddos and Kevin Covais
Clifford also got the opportunity to meet with Tom Karyla, who has been a huge help throughout our lives with diabetes.
Clifford and Tom!
Speaking of heroes, Annie fell in Love with Lenny the Lion who Clifford received when he started pumping in 2012 with Medtronic. At FFL She got to meet Lenny in person, and was beyond thrilled.
I could go on and on about the amazing time we had but I will show you in pictures to end this blog post. This doesn't even begin to touch on the amazing opportunity and knowledge we learned and took with us from FFL. That is another post for another time. We had our minds blown and enjoyed every minute of it. I'm a bit sad to see that we did not get a picture of Clifford and Richard Vaughn, who he was ecstatic to meet. Clifford attended Richard's talk with us and was so happy to see he had the same exact pump as him, color and all. There's always next year!
The kiddos at the TrialNet / Celiac Screenings
All the stars together
Picking up a few of the kids from their sessions
Watching Clifford get his picture drawn
Clifford and himself :)
Hayleigh and Ethan and one of their 'teachers'
Maggie and her new friend with Diabetes
Maggie
All the youngest FFL'ers
Checking out the quilt for life
Checking out the quilt for life
Young FFL'ers
Picking up our 'tweens' from their dance
Rocking out at their tween dance
Everyone together
The whole family in a line
Downtown for a snack