Today is February 3rd: My Life with Type 1 Diabetes

In February of 1979, I was diagnosed with what then was called 'Juvenile Diabetes'. My mom's sister, Rita, had just passed away 5 years earlier, from the devastating complications of this same disease. I was an athletic, 15 year old boy, who dreamed of playing professional sports. That year, I was faced with the same diagnosis as what had taken the life of my aunt at the very early age of 43. Was this disease going to shorten my life like it did hers? This is a story of my journey with Type 1 Diabetes, mistakes and all, and my decision to not be another statistic of this sometimes devastating disease