    
Today, definitely seemed to be the busiest day at the Village thus far. When I arrived this afternoon, cool and rainy weather seemed to have kept most people away. However, as the sun came out, so did the people.
Tucked away to the side behind a grove of trees, some people had managed to miss our rather large set up. Although the giant ‘Unite for Diabetes’ circle balloon waving on the horizon about the bus was rather difficult to miss. Even in a city of 100-story buildings. So, I went outside of the Village for a while and talked to people that were wandering around the Navy Pier area. “Hi, how are you doing today? Would you like to visit our diabetes village?” Once engaged in conversation, most people where highly receptive to coming to visit the Village, and although the free snacks were often the first booth hit, thankfully a lot of people expressed an interest in the health screenings.
I spoke to a couple teenagers today with diabetes. One was a thirteen-year-old kid that had come with his father to check out the bus. He was only recently diagnosed-less than a year ago - but seemed to be in good spirits. We chatted for quite some time about diabetes and how he has dealt with the past year. Despite all the differences that colour each of our experiences with diabetes, I still find a connection with most people with diabetes I speak to. There is a language of diabetes, a language of blood sugars and pumps and A1C’s and lancets and highs and lows.
Another kid with diabetes that I spoke to, Austin, also seemed very interested in the United Nations Resolution on diabetes. In the end, both happily signed the petition calling upon the implementation of the UN Resolution, had me sign the Young Voices books for them, and left with a promise to continue the message to ‘Unite for Diabetes’.
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