As Oprah’s recent show demonstrated, understanding the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 is difficult. To understand why it is so horrifying for children and adolescences to develop Type 2 Diabetes, you must comprehend the difference.

For the record, Type 1 Diabetes or Juvenile Diabetes as it is commonly referred to is an autoimmune disease and is treated with insulin. Type 1 Diabetes cannot be prevented by changes in lifestyle or diet. There is NO cure for Type 1 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is often called adult-onset Diabetes because historically it was diagnosed later in life and is often the result of poor diet and excess weight. Type 2 Diabetes can often be managed by making dramatic lifestyle changes including diet and exercise. In both cases, Diabetes can cause the same serious long-term health problems such as heart disease, kidney failure nerve damage, blindness and neuropathy to name the more serious complications associated with the disease.

As the parent of a Type 1 Diabetic, you may be wondering why I am committed to supporting the Let’s Move Campaign. To manage my daughter’s disease, she exercises nearly every day. Our family does not need the gentle push of a public education initiative or a more direct nudge through the Fist Lady’s bully pulpit to keep moving. My motivation to engage in this public awareness and advocacy effort is not a result of my direct self-interest. Michelle Obama’s leadership inspires me because I desperately want to help other families avoid a fate that my family could not avoid.

It makes me shudder to think about the lives of these young Type 2 Diabetics. Children who are my daughter’s age and are facing a lifetime full of health complications, doctor’s visits and battles with food. In every case, this life sentence was preventable. I am on board and ready to MOVE!

Needless to say, I ultimately came to the obvious conclusion that anytime one has the opportunity to listen to the President of the United States outline a proposal for strengthening the economy there should be absolutely NO debate. In outlining his proposal to encourage the growth of small businesses in this country, I was relieved to learn more about the tax incentives he proposed. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of suspending the capital gains tax for funds invested in small businesses. Of course, as a student of political science and public policy, a Town Hall-style speech always leaves me thirsty for more details. However, I do appreciate the opportunity this format provides for American citizens to ask our President some hard and deeply personal questions on topics ranging from health care for families like ours living with chronic illness to how we are going to reduce the national deficit.

President Obama did briefly mention funding for the NIH and the need to advance medical research. Of course, I am always desperate to hear more emphasis on this particular issue. As Elle’s mother, I do not think I will ever be satisfied that enough attention is being directed to this particular issue. As an American, it is hard to imagine that some of this country’s best and brightest scientists, engineers and researchers are living abroad because greater access to resources for this type of research is available in places like the U.K. At the end of the day, I am grateful to be living in a place where protestors and supporters can come together to hear our President outline his vision for how to move our country forward.

To read the full transcript, click here.

The evening began with a buffet-style dinner for the Senators and their guests complete with the traditional fare of chicken pot pie. Apparently, this is a dish that Senators have been dining on for years prior to the State of the Union. Savoring the spirit of bipartisanship, we sat at a table with Senator John McCain and Cindy McCain, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Evan Bayh and Susan Bayh.

Following my private tour of the Senate Chamber for a close up look at my Mom’s desk, it was time to head over to the House. Guests of the Senators were escorted to the Gallery past the Hazmat squad decked out in their space suits.

Perched above the House floor, I stood and watched as Speaker Pelosi announced the Senate, Supreme Court, First Lady and President into the chamber. As the President began to speak, I was in a position to see members from all three branches of government as they individually processed his words.

From a policy perspective, I was inspired by President Obama’s proposal to support small businesses. It is my hope that these measures will spark an Innovation Movement as described by Tom Friedman in the following NY Times Op Ed on January 24:

www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/opinion/24friedman.html?emc=eta1

My favorite moment, however, was listening to President Obama celebrate the First Lady’s commitment to tackling America’s childhood obesity epidemic. Despite the cynicism that pervades our media driven culture, I still believe in the capacity of our government to make change in the face of adversity. When I think about children who are handed a diabetes diagnosis that could have been prevented it makes me angry and profoundly sad. Our children are developing type 2 diabetes because they are obese. This is America and we need to do better for our children and we can do better.

The pundits will surely focus on why the Republicans stood and clapped during some parts of the speech, but not others. Commentators will infer and split hairs and question whether President Obama emphasized all the right points. Talking heads will ask whether he was justified in his criticism of the Supreme Court and show split screens of his remarks and the facial expressions of the Justices. I expected that getting to see those expressions firsthand would be the most compelling takeaway. It turns out that the most treasured souvenir from this experience is my renewed sense of possibility. I feel hopeful that Americans from both sides of the political aisle can come together and tackle our country’s most pressing problem. We must work together because this is OUR Union and OUR children are waiting.