Posted on by Lorraine

More than a shirt

The weather turned warm and I took out the bin of short-sleeved shirts and shorts.  Caleb’s first choice was emphatically this shirt:

Lauren's Walkers

It’s cute, right?  But it’s more than a cute shirt.  It’s the shirt that Lauren gave him.

Caleb met Lauren this past December. She was one of the other two Simple Wins winners.  Caleb completely loved meeting Nick Jonas, but the impact of meeting Lauren and Bradley was just as significant.  They are also rock stars in Caleb’s eyes.

When Lauren, Bradley and Caleb were waiting to meet Nick, I saw that Lauren was holding three gift bags.  Caleb had his Burning Up book for Nick to sign and a heartfelt note to give him.  I saw three bags and thought three brothers – Nick, Joe and Kevin.

One of those bags was indeed for Nick, but the other two were not for Nick’s brothers, but for two other young men: Caleb and Bradley. In Caleb’s bag was a beautiful, thoughtful note, a DVD featuring former Chicago Cub and fellow T1D, Ron Santo, a package of Starburts (perfect for lows at 4 carbs a piece) and the red shirt.

How amazing is Lauren? It’s no wonder that Caleb could be smitten with her.  She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  She touched Caleb.

Even though the total amount of time spent with Lauren and Bradley was only a handful of hours, Caleb sees them as his friends.  They are the first people he has met in person and socialized with that live with T1D. He celebrated something great and fun with them. Diabetes brought them together for something GOOD.

I will remember meeting them and their moms as much as I will remember meeting Nick.  I believe Caleb will too.

He picked Lauren’s shirt first and continues to throw it on his back as soon as it is out of the wash.  It’s right up there with his NYY garb.  Doesn’t that say it all?

Caleb with friends Lauren and Bradley

16 Replies to “More than a shirt”

  1. Great post Lorraine! How wonderful that he got to meet Lauren and Bradley – Lauren sounds so lovely. I think it’s the meeting of other T1s that gets our children strength and endurance for this ride.

  2. GREAT POST…Joe, too, loves wearing his friends Walk T-Shirts etc. I think it does give them strength in knowing they are not alone…kind of like all of us D-Rents. It helps me beyond what words can express to know I am on this ride with inspirational ladies like yourself.

    Have a great day!

  4. that is so sweet of Lauren to put together such a perfect gift for Caleb! she obviously did her homework and found out the things that Caleb likes. my son has recently started making T1 friends in our city, and even though they don’t discuss diabetes much (if at all), i can see the sparkle in his eyes when we talk about seeing them… it’s so nice to know that we are not alone!

  5. this is so amazing lorraine! thank you for the shout out! i am so glad he likes his shirt. tell him his dia-buddy says hi.. and give him a HUGE hug for me!!

  6. That’s so cute that he loves that shirt so much 🙂 I can speak from experience that meeting & becoming friends with other type 1s holds a special place in your heart/mind/life. I’m so glad for him that he was able to so young … that’s one thing I missed out on, only finding the community as an adult.

  7. It’s great that he has a special t-shirt like that and some special people in his life. 🙂

  8. It’s sweet that he likes that shirt so much! Thank you for your comments about the veggies. Your input really helps! I’m probably going to ask your input on a pump one day soon……Hope you have a great day!!

  9. What a heartwarming post! Love it! Makes me think we should have a little Walk t-shirt swap among the D moms! 🙂

  11. I think this is so awesome. Our JDRF walk shirts are what the boys wear to bed almost every nights. Heaven knows we got a ton of them.

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