When I first met 4-year old Jamie Kurtzig, she was wearing mis-matched socks, a pink tutu and a stuffed monkey backpack. Her blond curls were unruly and showed the signs of a nap in the car and some kind of mischief.
Sara is Jamie’s mother. When I first met Sara, we chatted about how we both had 4-year olds (mine’s a boy), nap time, healthy snacks and pre-school. We talked about all of the similarities in the development stages of our little ones. The main difference was that Jamie has type 1 diabetes and has been insulin dependent since she was 18 months old.
The Kurtzig Family
My son hates shots more than he hates water in his nose when he swims. I have had to trick him into going to the doctors office for his flu shots and the moment he realizes where we are going, the screaming begins. Jamie has had to endure finger pricks and insulin shots since she was 18 months old. This is the life she knows and until a cure for diabetes is found, she will continue counting carbs and keeping up with the other children on the playground. I was mesmerized by this little girl who was living her little life to the fullest.
In 2008, Jamie and Sara had a brilliant idea. Sara and her husband Andy had attended the Hope Gala the previous year and Jamie enjoyed seeing her parents all dressed up. She asked her mommy why there wasn’t a dress-up event for kids.
That is when the idea was hatched to create Royal Ball: Kingdom for a Cure. It was an event for parents and children where everyone dresses up in royal attire and attends an activity filled evening and sit-down dinner. And it could raise money to fund research to find a cure for diabetes. Friends and family of the Kurtzig family could not have been more supportive. The event raised over $100,000 in its’ first year and has since raised over $250,000.
The Kurtzig family and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation invites you to attend the 3rd annual Royal Ball: Kingdom for a Cure at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on March 21st, 2009 from 3:30pm – 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased online at www.curetype1.org/royalball or by contacting JDRF at 415-977-0360.
Alison Urmson
JDRF Staff
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