THE MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER

Camryn Speaking to a crowd of 4,000 at the 2008 JDRF Walk for a Cure

If you ask my daughter what she wants to be when she grows up she will tell you that she wants to be a motivational speaker. How does an eight year old know what a motivational speaker is? Well, when she was 6 and only had diabetes for few months she was asked to speak at her first JDRF walk. She could not yet read so had to memorize her comments. She's a pretty shy kid so we had our doubts about her climbing up on stage and perching on that little milk crate so that she could see over the podium. But along with the local Mayors and public officials she hopped right up there, flashed her dimples and made our jaws drop. In the last couple of years she has been asked by JDRF to speak several times with her largest venue being at this year's Walk. But her real career decision came when she delivered an address that she mostly authored herself, to a smaller group of about 200 at a luncheon. Somehow she knew exactly when to pause and shyly flash a smile while waiting for the crowd to laugh at her perfectly delivered line. At the end of her speech there was a standing ovation (we had to explain what that was to her afterward) and one gentleman in the crowd was so moved by her that he approached the podium and handed her $50 as she was stepping down. And as she tells the story, "when that 50 bucks hit my hand I thought . . . now I'm motivated to speak". So begins the journey of a motivational speaker.

I'll tell you the honest truth, I hate public speaking. Scares me to death. Maybe I'd get up there, if held at gun point, but I'd be coming down on a stretcher! Not her though - she loves it, she was born to be a poster child. Oh, how I just wish it wasn't this poster! But Camryn is a lemonade making factory!!

When I saw the call for applications for the JDRF Children's Congress I knew this would be right up her alley. Every two years JDRF Government Relations sends a couple of child delegates from each state to Washington DC to meet with lawmakers to push for funding for research, better health care for diabetics, etc. These kids meet one on one with their state reps and also sit in on a Congressional hearing in which some will have the opportunity to testify.

We got notice yesterday that out of the 1,500 applicants Camryn has been chosen as one of the delegates from Massachusetts. We're taking the show on the road - to Washington, DC. She was thrilled when she heard the news and in her quiet and understated way she said: "Mommy, I'm so happy to get to be a part of it". I said - "a part of Children's Congress?" She said, "no, a part of the cure!" Then she said, as she walked away "oh, and I'll be needing a power suit, I think gray will work". Where did this kid come from?

Truth be told, I don't really believe in silver linings and you know what, I want my blessings straight up, hold the disguises. But this kid has built character that some will never see. We can't credit her parents, they would have preferred it to be a different way. Can we credit diabetes? I hate to credit anything to diabetes (except a lot of sleepless nights, heartache and worry) and can't bring myself to say a nice word about it.

But bless her heart, she's already achieved what she wants to be when she grows up (and I haven't even figured out what mine is yet!).