I believe in Angels

I have always believed in angels.  When I was young I believed cute winged cherubs were buzzing around me always protecting me.  As I grew older my visions of angels slowly changed.  No longer did I dream of baby cherubs.  Instead I have come to realize that God’s messengers actually live among us.  And there is one living in my home town, working in our elementary school, taking care of our children.  Her name is Mrs. L, our school nurse.

I have written about Mrs. L in several of my posts.  I have chronicled how she helped Ben return back to school after his diagnosis, and how she guided Jeff and me through that process.  For three years she has lovingly taken care of Ben, through 1^st grade when he was first diagnosed, through 2^nd grade when he transitioned to the pump, and now through 3^rd grade.

Before every school year I gave Mrs. L Ben’s official doctor’s orders.  The orders note when Ben must be checked and how much insulin or carbs Ben would need to correct a glucose number that is out of range.  But Mrs. L did so much more for Ben beyond these scheduled glucose checks.

When Ben begged me to not pack his lunch and let him buy the school lunch with his friends, Mrs. L agreed to help Ben count his lunch carbs everyday.  Mrs. L along with the angels who work in the school cafeteria (yes, there are angel lunch ladies too) checked nutrition labels and researched online the carb counts for every school lunch served.  Mrs. L would negotiate with Ben (which is no easy task) whether he should have regular milk or a chocolate milk with his lunch each day.

Mrs. L patiently took care of Ben when he was low.  She would call me at the office to discuss how many carbs to give him.  Then Ben and Mrs. L would chat about the Bruins or the Red Sox while they waited the obligatory 15 minutes before they could retest.  Mrs. L was able to turn this annoying and painful wait into the highlight of Ben’s day. 

Ben loved the time he spent with Mrs. L.  But now the school year has come to an end.  Ben is leaving Mrs. L and his elementary school.  Next year he will start 4^th grade at a new school with a new school nurse.  The last day of school Ben gave Mrs. L a thank you gift.  He picked out a Bruins’ iphone case and wrote her a lovely letter.  He ended the letter with this quote:

“I will miss you more than the Bruins will miss the Stanley Cup!”

I am certain that is true for both Ben and me.  Since Ben’s diagnosis my life has been full of worry.  But when Ben was at school I didn’t worry!  I knew that God’s angel was taking care of Ben.  And for that I will be eternally grateful.