Michael's Crew....how it all began

Michael on his third day in I.C.U.
Ranse and I were in Mexico when we got the news, so we brought him home a special gift.
Even in the hospital, Michael was dressed as a pirate and having sword fights.

Michael's Crew was formed last year at this time, when we formed a team to participate in the "Walk to Cure Diabetes". Michael was diagnosed with diabetes 3 months after his third birthday in February, 2007. We learned of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) at this time and all of the fabulous efforts they have performed to research diabetes and hopefully one day find a cure! We also learned that they host many walks all over the U.S. to raise funds for research. Well, let's just say that was exactly what our family needed. We decided to join the fight and help raise funds for researchers to find a cure.



Since Michael loved pirates, we decided to have some fun and spruce things up a bit with our team. We provided t-shirts for our team with Michael's picture on the front in a pirate hat and on the back is our "family treasure map", starting with the date that Michael was diagnosed and following a trail to a treasure chest with the words above and below it that states, "Our Treasure.....A cure for diabetes". I have to give props to Taylor for coming up with this idea, I absolutely love it!!! So, along with the shirts we also provided our team with eye patches, bandannas, pirate necklaces and tattoos. Everyone was a good sport and I think it added a little extra flare to our first walk.



We set a goal to raise $5,000 our first year and reached it! We were also very excited to have around 50 people join us at the walk. Michael's Crew definitely made a statement with how many people were on their team and Uncle Brian stood out as he surprised us all by arriving to the walk in a full Pirate costume. I didn't even recognize him at first. When I first saw him, I was disappointed because I thought that someone else had come up with the same theme. I finally recognized him once I saw him standing next to Emily. What a relief! We were the only pirate team.



Above are some pictures from when Michael was originally diagnosed in the hospital. I will write about our latest happenings under a new entry coming soon!