You Are Cordially Invited....

Day 20 Health Activist Writers Mont Challenge

5 Dinner Guests. Who are 5 people you’d love to have dinner with (living or deceased) and why?

I've had all day to consider this post. I considered going the 'Jesus, Gandhi, Buda, Mohammad, & Abraham (the one with all the sons as apposed to the one with the hat)' route but reconsidered. I have a great deal of faith but this isn't a blog about my religious beliefs. Although I would like to take a quick moment to say that I believe "Faith is not the absence of doubt, it is the ability to believe in the presence of doubt" - read that quote somewhere, I should google it to site the source but I'm hanging on by a thread right now (exhausted) thus I will leave the googling to you. Let me also add that I respect all religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) and pass no judgment.

Digressed - sorry - moving on.

I also considered inviting key scientists and researchers from the past including; Fredrick Banting, John MaCleod, Charles Best, Alexander Fleming, and for fun, because I think he would be a riot Albert Einstein. (For non-diabetes readers the first three scientists discovered insulin) While I have a great deal of respect for these men I'm not entirely sure they would be the best dinner guests for me - I fear I would be lost in all the sciency stuff.

Next I considered a dinner with philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, Confucius, Galileo, and Aristotle. Again I have a great respect for the genius these men had - that same genius would likely be over my head without cliff notes to help me understand all they discussed. Although I am keeping Confucius on a stand-by list since I would like him to look at some fortune cookie fortunes I have received that begin with "Confucius says..." and ask him if they are accurate quotes.

Like I said I had all day to consider my dinner guests.

When it came down to it I have already had this amazing dinner with 5 fabulous people. The dinner was on a Friday evening here in Austin on March 30th. The guests included a JDRF Outreach Manager, a CDE (certified diabetes educator) extraordinaire, two fellow JDRF volunteers and also D-mamas (moms with a child who has diabetes) and the guest of honor - the DOC's very own Kerri S. who was scheduled to give the keynote at the 2nd annual JDRF Type 1 Now Conference the next day.

I was so thankful to Amy (JDRF Outreach Manager) for inviting me to attend the dinner. I remember calling Amy giddy with excitement after reading that Kerri was going to be the keyone. I likely sounded like a child about to see Santa for the first time. I wasn't alone in my giddiness - my good friend, fellow D-Mama and JDRF Kids Walk Volunteer Andrea was also as giddy. We were both huge fans of Kerri's blog and could hardly believe we would get to enjoy a dinner with her.

Me and my two fellow D-mamas arrive to the restaurant first. While Amy had requested a table on the patio when she made the reservation, one was not available - no biggy Kerri was coming. Teresa (other Dmom), Andrea and I caught up on recent events, ordered beverages and relaxed. Shortly after we ordered our beverages Cassie arrived (CDE). As she pulled out her chair to join us I realized the placement of the table was not acceptable. The pathway between our table and the table behind ours was narrow even prior to Cassie being seated. The guests for the other table had not yet arrived, thus when they did arrive and someone was seated in the chair opposite Cassie the pathway (main thoroughfare for servers) would be reduced to approximately 6 inches. I tried to remedy the problem by moving a large floor plant over and then scootching our table over (management and servers alike gawked at us (me) while I was orchestrating the table move). Unfortunately adjusting the table location did not alleviate the poor logistics of the walk way. Amy and Kerri were due to arrive momentarily. I approached the manager ( the same one that had shook his head in my general direction during the table placement fiasco moments early) and pointed out the perceived problem. He concurred and assured me he would find us another table. (sadly - we could not take our waiter with us - I forget his name but I'm certain he would have been an 'outstanding' waiter)

Our new table - a secluded corner on the patio with a panoramic view of the hills. Well played Mr. Manager.

Amy and Kerri arrived, beverages ordered and conversation ensued. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that in all the excitement of the pending conference, the view, and the table relocation we neglected to introduce ourselves to Kerri. Thus she was inclined to ask for introductions - sorry about that Kerri if you read this. We played round robin introducing ourselves, explaining our involvement with diabetes and discussed a possible unhealthy obsession with Justin Beiber (not me or Kerri just to be clear). Drinks arrived (mine was wrong - not that I would have cared - thus I was given a second one - score), we ordered dinners and spent the next two hours laughing, sharing, and just having a wonderfully good time.

It was an absolute pleasure to have met and shared a meal with one of the DOC's celebrities and my good D friends. Maybe a dinner with spiritual leaders, philosophers, or brilliant scientists would be enlightening but I will always take laughter, support, and friends over enlightenment.

Hoping to meet up with more of the dfabulous DOCs at FFL this July.