Doesn't get any better than this

My daughter is facinated with funny sounding words and names...and I am too honestly. I know it may sound funny to say, but I like words...i like how powerful they can be, how much emotion they can stir...laughter, sadness, sympathy, joy. Words are pretty amazing. Anyway, tonight we were talking about the people on my Grandma's side of the family and their last name being Mantuano. Emma is in love with that name. She has always been very good at doing different accents and silly voices too. So, at bedtime today we were talking about all of the names of family members on the Mantuano side...all the while using our best Italian accents. Well, after all the silliness was done..we started talking about what things were like for people years and years ago. I mentioned to her that when her Great Uncle Harold was her age (he will be 100 next month) insulin was not even around for diabetics to use. I told her how people referred to it as the "starvation disease" because any time a diabetic would eat food back then, their blood sugar would skyrocket and there was obviously no insulin needles for them to take at that time. I wanted her to know how far things have come since then. How many things are out there for diabetics now to help them better manage their disease. She was truly amazed. I myself am really amazed too. She then started to cry though...and I worried that I had talked about it too much and upset her. I couldn't have been more wrong. Through her tears, she told me that she was crying because she felt bad for all of those people back then who ended up dying because they didn't get to have needles like she does now. She felt sorry for them and their families and friends. She told me that she is thankful that she was born when she was. It never ceases to amaze me how caring my daughter is. To say she has a big heart is an understatement. I hope she never loses that part of her personality...I think it is an admirable trait to have. I hope when she is grown that she doesn't become jaded like many of us and lose that.
Another special thing that happened today was when Emma and i went to the radio station here to pick up her Good Samaritan Award. They were so kind and helpful and simply amazing to us when we were doing our annual hot chocolate sale to raise money for JDRF. They wanted to give Emma this award to honor her for all of the fundraising she has done. After we picked it up, we hopped in the elevator and headed down to the lobby and out to our car. As we were walking I asked her if she was proud of herself for getting this award...because we are SO incredibly proud of her. She just squealed and smiled really big and told me that yes she was proud. I explained to her that the reason why she got this award is because her idea at 4 years old to sell hot chocolate to raise money for diabetes research is truly an amazing thing. I told her to look at what she has accomplished in her short 6 1/2 years on this Earth...raising thousands of dollars for JDRF, spreading the word about type 1 diabetes on TV, radio, newspapers, at school, being asked to be a youth ambassador next year for JDRF...it's incredible. SHE'S incredible. I told her that most adults have not accomplished that much in their lifetimes. We have talked before in the past about how it is better to give than to receive. So, I asked her if she really realized that when she is helping raise this money..that she is not only helping herself with her diabetes...but she is also helping millions of other diabetics out there too. I told her that this award is very special...it is a symbol of all her hard work...all her caring and compassion...everything she has done of her own accord to help make our small corner of the world a better place. I am so proud of her. I am so lucky to be her mommy. I know I talk about her a lot and how special I think she is...but I can't help it, she just astounds me.
So all in all I would have to say that it was a pretty awesome day....even with having to stop in at the DMV to renew my driver's licence! Walked in with only one person ahead of me in line...nice...doesn't get much better than that.