Well, dang it; now I've done it .....
I saw on the TV program 48 Hours (night before last; Thursday night) that tornadoes ripped up part of Louisville, Kentucky. That got me thinking about Jack McCarthy, the *Diabetes Miracle Walker*, who will be walking through Louisville on June 23rd as part of his 1400 mile walk. (Jack has been on insulin for 60 years (!!), and is walking from Kansas to Atlanta to raise diabetes awareness, raise funds for good diabetes causes, and to reduce the fear experienced by persons dealing with diabetes. See below for additional information and excerpts from previous posts.)
I thought about Jack possibly walking by the devastion left by the tornadoes: ... What will Jack be thinking; what will he be feeling? What would he do if he weren't already on a mission to reduce fear: It quickly became clear:
What he feels IS why he is walking. You see, he wouldn't be walking 1400 miles, through the heat, the hills, the tornadoes, and the hail storms unless he felt an incredible empathy with those suffering with fear (from diabetes). I have no doubt AT ALL that Jack would stop and somehow help.
So anyway, tornadoes led me to think about Jack McCarthy's incredible marathon walk to Atlanta, which led me to my decision: I'm going to Louisville to walk with Jack.
So I bought myself an airplane ticket into Louisville, Kentucky from Sacramento, California; then I went nuts and bought myself a Kodak digital camera (just released by Kodak; it was only $332 from MacWarehouse) so I can quickly transmit digital images of Jack and his walk (and me) up to the web so you all can see ...; and yep, I'm going to do what, for Jack, will really be meaningful: walk with him.
Then I told my wife, Mary. (Yes, she's ok with the idea. She's afraid of the tornadoes and things, but she understands why I'm going ... mostly. :>))
So, if anyone else out there gets a wild hair like I did, please go walk with Jack. He's really quite an inspiration, and don't forget: He's been on insulin for 60 years (!!). He is why you can be inspired to take charge of your life with diabetes. He is worth the trip.
(***If anyone would like meet me at the Louisville, Kentucky airport, and maybe even help me get from Louisville to Austin, Indiana where Jack will be, I would, of course, be thrilled. I will be arriving at the Louisville, Kentucky airport on Delta Flight 594L at 4:08 pm on June 21st. I can supply character references if needed. I'll also be looking for the means to email the electronic images back to California. Boy, I sure would appreciate help with that!).
And please, I really do encourage everyone who can, to join this remarkable person somewhere during his 1400 mile walk. Let's see, he will have walked over 900 miles by the time he gets to Louisville on June 23rd, and will have 500 miles to go to get to the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Especially you towns along the route: Make sure your newspapers know about the *Diabetes Miracle Walker*. For details on times he'll be passing thru specific communities and for updates on his progress, you are invited to come to my DiabetesOnline webpage at: www.diabetesonline.com where you can link to Jack's *Diabetes Miracle Walker* home page.
Sincerely,
Douglas Stanton
DiabetesOnline Software Service
dstanton@syix.com
http://www.diabetesonline.com
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION follows for those who are interested. I am hoping that, by this and other posts updating Jack's *Diabetes Miracle Walk*, I can help drum up (especially internet) support for his courageous effort.
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Jack McCarthy, insulin dependent for sixty (60!!) years, just completed the first 450 miles of his 1,400 mile marathon *Diabetes Miracle Walk* when he walked thru New Cambria, Missouri on May 26th, 1996.
The next towns that he'll be passing thru: let's see.... since Marysville, he's already moved on thru Home City, Beattie, Axtell, and Seneca. Fairview and Hiawatha: just look out your windows: he should be passing by or just went by. He'll be walking thru Highland, Sparks, Troy, Blair, Wathena, Elwood; St. Joseph, Missouri will be reached on May 20th. He'll walk thru Laclede, Missouri on the 26th of May; thru Hannibal on the 31st, Pittsfield and Detroit, Illinois happen on the 4th of June; Springfield is on the 8th; towns like Decatur, Tuscola, Metcalf and Chrisman follow; then it's Indiana's turn: Montezuma, Rockville, etc., on to Indianapolis, the home of Eli Lilly, on the 17th of June. Then, he'll only have 500 miles or so to go.
Come on you all you towns along the way! Pull out all of the stops: a fine human being is walking from Kansas to the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Please support his efforts to raise diabetes awareness and diabetes funds!
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