My story, “From Grief To Gratitude In Five Seconds,” that was published in the new Chicken Soup For The Soul book entitled 101 Ways To Think Positive on January 7, 2025, is a very personal one. It’s about how I used Mel Robbins’ Five Second Rule to navigate through the unbearable grief of losing my younger brother to Diabetes at the age of 53.
When my little brother, Stephen, was born I wasn’t able to pronounce his name, so I called him Weaven. The name stuck and I called him that his whole life. When Weaven was 4 years old, he snuck a big chocolate Easter bunny into his room & ate the whole thing. Afterwards, he became violently ill & in a very short time he went unconscious. We rushed him to the hospital & by the time they had admitted him, he had slipped into a coma.
After doing tests, they found that Weaven was a Type 1 diabetic. Thankfully Weaven lived through that nightmare & after a couple weeks in the hospital, he was sent home. Our family had very little training from the medical staff before my brother was discharged – like what kind of foods to eat or avoid, how to test his blood sugar and how to give insulin injections.
That was back in the 60’s and there just wasn’t much info available on Diabetes, much less how to raise a child with the disease. It was brutal to watch my brother poke his finger numerous times a day & then take insulin injections 3 times a day and there were several times during his childhood, we almost lost him due to insulin shock. He battled the disease his entire life & when I came back home to Colorado in 2016, Weaven was really struggling and a year and a half later, he died.
I knew I wanted to use this special story about Weaven to raise money & awareness for kids with Type 1 Diabetes. This effort is also especially near & dear to my heart now, as my five-year-old granddaughter, Charlie, was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a couple years ago. Thankfully things are different now than they were for Weaven.
Charlie is using an insulin pump and she & her parents have numerous local medical professionals & organizations helping Charlie & her family navigate through the disease. I knew I wanted to raise money for the American Diabetes Association in memory of my brother, but I want to give to an organization dedicated to helping kids with Diabetes specifically, so I knew it had to be the American Diabetes Association’s Camp Colorado!
ADA Camp Colorado is a lifeline for children living with diabetes to develop the critical skills needed to thrive while managing their disease. Attending camp helps children develop social skills, self-respect & life-long friendships.
Campers meet others just like them while fostering independence, building self-confidence & gaining an awareness of a healthy lifestyle through education, nutrition, exercise, glucose control & emotional well-being.
Growing up with Weaven, and now watching Charlie navigate growing up with Diabetes, I truly understand how important ADA Camp is for kids with Diabetes & their families. Please help me raise money for this important cause – for a donation of $20 or more, I will send you an autographed copy of the book. I accept Paypal, CashApp, Venmo or Zelle!
Message me on Facebook or email me at: tenaciousk19@gmail.com.
*Please note: I only have a limited number of copies to use for this fundraiser, so contact me ASAP if you’d like a copy! And THANK YOU to Chicken Soup For The Soul for once again allowing me to use the publication of my story to raise funds & awareness for a cause dear to my heart!