Colton's Crusaders

Dear Family and Friends - 

This year we will once again join thousands of others for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes at the Mall of America.  2013 marks an important milestone for us as it is the 10 year anniversary of Colton's diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. It's hard to believe that he has dealt with this disease for a decade already. As we enter our 10th year of living each day with diabetes we look at how far we've come over the past 10 years but live with the fear of what this disease is doing to the long-term health of our wonderful son. A cure is what we need for Colton and so many others like him and supporting JDRF is one of the ways we are fighting to cure this disease. 

Colton is now in 5th grade at St. Boniface School. He turned 11 in November and this past year has been full of a number of first?s for him. He is playing sports for the first time on his school basketball team and loving it. He also had his first hunting experiences this past fall and shot his first ducks, pheasants, squirrels, and doves. He went on his first plane ride and visited Kennedy Space Center. He now wants to be the first diabetic to go to Mars. We're hoping he will be the first cured diabetic who goes to Mars. 

He continues to take on the challenges of managing his diabetes on his own as he grows more independent each day. The next few years will likely bring even more challenges than we would like to admit when it comes to managing diabetes. There will continue to be days of frustrating blood sugars and his body working against him no matter what he does along with the continued reality of monitoring and counting carbohydrates from every bite of food and ever drink of liquids along with the other continuous responsibilities of being diabetic. 

The daily requirements of diabetes can become frustrating and we wish we could do anything to make diabetes go away. Wouldn't it be great if we could make diabetes a distant memory and give him the chance to be a normal kid? 

It can happen but we need to support organizations like JDRF to continue to help fund research and scientists to make the cure a reality.  JDRF funds more type 1 diabetes research than any other charity worldwide. You can help by donating to JDRF though our family walk team by choosing the Donate to This Team button.

Thank you so much for your considering a tax deductible donation to support JDRF.  To find out more about JDRF and what they are doing for Type 1 diabetes research go to www.JDRF.org.

Eric, Sara, Colton, and Clare Paulson