Hi, my name is Liv. I am 9 years old and have 3 siblings, 2 brothers and 1 sister. I love to dance, play lacrosse, play soccer, and I am a cheerleader. My favorite subject is math. My favorite animal is a flamingo. The difference I want to highlight is that my little brother Finn has Type One Diabetes. This has impacted me because I had to learn very quickly how to deal with Finn getting all the attention from family and friends. But this has also made me realize that instead of hiding it I think that we should flaunt it.

I was in second grade when my brother was diagnosed. My family and friends would always surround him and give him lots of attention and presents. This would make me very jealous. Therefore I would always hide this from all my friends because I didn’t want him to get the attention from them too. Until one day when I noticed that my brother was trying to hide his pump. For example, he wears a monitor and an insulin pump on his body. He covers them up by wearing long sleeves or short sleeves but you still can sometimes see them. This made me grow up and think why should a 3 year old have to hide who he is? I think that my brother should not hide the parts of having diabetes. I think that it is time that we don’t hide it but flaunt it so that people can see and better understand what having diabetes means.

This impacts my life because I am learning how to take care of Finn. He needs insulin every time he eats something. He also needs someone to watch him and monitor his blood sugar levels and can’t be left alone. I want to be able to give my parents a break and be able to take care of Finn.

Finn’s diabetes makes me more understanding of people’s differences. I know that not everyone is made the same and thatś okay! Every time my mom or dad do something to help Finn it teaches me how to be patient and understand what it takes to take care of Finn. I want everyone to know that Finn has diabetes and that it doesn’t matter. He’s still super fun and cool!

Sibling Flaunts