One year ago today was the last day of Children's Congress 2019--the last day of the best 3 days of my life. If y'all have known me for a while, you've most likely read all of my CC19 posts already; if you're new here, hey, go check them out! (Shameless plug? Me? Never.)
It's incredible how different things are right now compared to a year ago. Over the past few months, I've thought a lot about how grateful I am that CC took place in 2019, because it never would've happened now. Getting a bunch of immunocompromised kids together to meet with members of Congress? Ain't no way that would be possible this year. We're so lucky that we had that opportunity before the whole world shut down.
Looking back at CC19 brings up a lot of memories. First and foremost--I feel an overwhelming amount of love for all of the friends that I met over those three days. Kalli, Hannah, Bella, Carly, Claire, Adriana, Jackie, and so many others who I still keep in touch with. The greatest part of having a condition like T1D is the instant sense of kinship that results from meeting others like us. I'll never forget that night when a bunch of us walked around the city together--most of our bg levels were out of range, our pumps and CGMs were beeping, and we were having the time of our lives just being with each other.
Y'all remember that first night, when we all introduced ourselves onstage with our name, age, and diagnosis age? I still haven't forgotten that. It's a reminder that we're not alone, that even in a time when we all feel even more isolated and vulnerable than usual, there are others like us. And we are so strong.
That brings me to the other emotion that fills me when I reminisce about my time at CC19: pride. So much pride. For the work that we did, for everything that we accomplished, for being brave enough to share our stories with members of Congress and remind them that we matter. I remain in awe of the strength that every one of our delegates demonstrated that day on the Hill. We were overheated, sleep-deprived, and scared out of our minds, and somehow we were able to sit down with the most influential people in the country and raise our voices for our cause. Every single one of us was a superhero that day, and we remain superheroes every day.
I don't know what the future holds for us T1D folks. I don't know what's gonna happen to the SDA, what's gonna happen to the price of insulin, what's gonna happen to us immunocompromised kids in a society that too often ignores our existence in favor of their own comfort. But here's what I do know: we're unstoppable. I learned that a year ago, and I haven't forgotten it.
Someday, when this is all over, I'll meet up with my CC19 family again. In the meantime, I'm sending so much love to all of you. Can't wait to watch y'all change the world (again)!
