"Grown-Up Youngster"

I found this story of how someone first dealt with finding out that they have diabetes to be incredibly moving. I had a friend in highschool who ended up going through a very similar experiance that ended his dream of joining the marines after our senior year ended. I had always wondered how he must have fealt but it's not really something you just go up to someone and ask. Your story is both very tragic and yet at the same time is written in a way that it is very uplifting. You seem almost proud of the fact that you have gone through this and used it as a way to better yourself where as some people might just feel sorry for themselves .I can't imagine what it must be like to have to deal with this kind of disease every day of your life.