When I was asked to blog on
Juvenation to help advocacy at JDRF forward a cure for type 1 diabetes, I was
reminded of several past “social networking” things I had done.  The first that came to mind was playing
“telephone.”  Of course, our eight
grandkids think we were born before the telephone, but the telephone game was
played at birthday parties in the 50’s. 
I liked whispering into the ears of my friends’ and we all got a kick
out of how mixed-up the message became when it reached its final person.  Oh, how far we have come!

By way of introduction, I am
wife to one, mother to four (two girls/women and two boys/men – one a type 1
and one a multi-capable young man with cerebral palsy), mother-in-law to three
of the best people on earth, and grandmother to eight, ages 15 – 8 months.  I am lucky to be daycare three days a
week for the 8 month old.  I am
told it is keeping me young.

I became a Mother of a type 1
diabetic twenty years ago this week.   It was not new to me as my brother is a type 1
also.  Our son took on diabetes and
proudly announced at age 12 that he was not going to let it rule his life.  He has not.  What he has done is take good care of himself so that when
we have a cure (and we WILL), he will be able to lead a so-called normal
healthy life.  But, twenty years is
a daunting amount of time to live with this insidious disease.  I want a cure. 

Twenty years ago I joined the
Houston Chapter of JDRF Board as education chair.  I have been involved in government relations and grassroots
for the past ten years, as I truly believe our advocacy supporting research
funding is the way to the cure.  I
currently serve on the JDRF National GLT (Grassroots Leadership Team).  Grassroots is a very interesting
word.  By definition it means “the
ordinary people in a community or the ordinary members of an organization, as
opposed to the leadership.”  That
reminds me of the “telephone game” – archaic and mixed-up.  There is nothing “ordinary” about JDRF
grassroots advocacy.  Why?  For one, we are responsible for
forwarding research that funds the Special Diabetes Program.  Recently we received $150 Million a
year for two years to continue the SDP. 
That represents over 1/3 of ALL type 1 research funding!  We are a force in great numbers.  Our lawmaker’s listen to their
constituents!   This is
precisely the area where JDRF advocates show how very remarkably passionate and
fearless we are in working to forward a cure for our loved ones – one email,
one fax and one telephone call at a time.

Two years ago, I was asked to
start a facebook page. I was, in my mind, still playing “telephone” but I did
join.  I promised myself I was
going to keep my site only for JDRF. 
Soon, some high school friends crept onto my page and one day I was
shocked to find that one of them had answered an emergency request of mine to
help a young mother who, due to type 1 diabetes, was in need of a
kidney/pancreas transplant.  This
high school friend I had not seen or telephoned (!) in over 40 years, called
the transplant team and offered to be tested to give her kidney.  And, several sent money to our JDRF
Walk Team and shared their connection to diabetes.  Then, they joined JDRF Advocacy!  

Social networking?  I have a newfound respect for its
amazing capacity to bring people together and that is why I have begun to blog
on Juvenation.  Please join and
share your stories.  I always
thought that the days I spent with our son at the endocrinologist office with
the doctors, the nurses, the pump educators and the nutritionists were most
important, but nothing was as helpful on a day-to-day practical basis as
hearing from those who walk in my shoes.

My faith that JDRF will lead
the way to the cure is strong.  But
we need you, your family members and your friends to sign up to be advocates at
https://www.jdrf.org/advocacy

Nothing ordinary about it –
it’s our 911 and our lawmaker’s 411. 

Take a minute to tell me your story in the comments below.

 Melinda Rose, JDRF Advocacy