"At ten years old, my mom and I found my grandma dead from a fatal heart attack in her kitchen.

This was a life changing event for me at such a young age. Then a year later, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes after spending four days in Intensive Care at Children's Hospital. I had near fatal Ketoacidosis and a blood sugar of over 800mg./dl (normal is around 100mg/dl). My life had completely changed again.

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A few years later, I unexpectedly lost my grandpa to an infection and lost two high school friends in two separate car accidents. My life was turned upside down again. In the midst of my grief and these challenging times it was hard to also stay focused on my own health. As a Type 1 diabetic, you don't have the luxury of taking a "break" from it when the rest of your life gets hard. It's a disease that you have to focus on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In some of my hardest moments, I still had to focus on successfully managing my Type 1 Diabetes. This seemed nearly impossible at times. During this time, I was also a competitive athlete and high-achieving student, which made managing Type 1 even harder because all of these factors can impact blood glucose management. I credit my parents for helping me get through this hard time in my life. My parents were my biggest supporters & teachers. They empowered me to grow, learn & figure out how to overcome even during these very difficult times.

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About a year after I graduated high school, my other two grandparents got sepsis and were in the ICU for a week. Happening only months apart. My grandpa recovered well but my grandma had complications. My grandma has been a Type 1 diabetic for 60 years. After she was discharged from the hospital she encountered complications with her condition, poor cognition and little hands-on support from her doctors. Because of this, I knew I had to use my own experience and knowledge to start helping to manage her diabetes--because she no longer could do it on her own. With the help of my parents, we were doing 24/7 diabetes & health monitoring for more than a year. 

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All of these events of loss, stress, and change forced me to a place in life very different from normal kids my age (even normal adults). Most of my peers had no idea what I faced on a daily basis. The obstacles and challenges I've faced in my short life have forced me to become comfortable living somewhere North of Normal. However, these unusual circumstances have also helped me discover that living North of Normal hasn't been a hindrance in my life. Instead, I understand now, everything that happened to me was a catalyst for giving me strength and building a more optimistic and resilient mindset. I now feel so much stronger and resilient when challenges do arise. All of this has also helped me appreciate the life I have, the people in it and accept none of us have any guarantees of tomorrow...so I appreciate the value of the small everyday moments in life. North of Normal began my journey of finding strength, deeper meaning and purpose in my life.   

 

Through all of these experiences, I've discovered I want to show other people that when life forces you into a new normal, you can still choose to create your own path and DECIDE to thrive despite your obstacles, because

North of Normal is what makes you stronger. 

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