I met Mary twice. Although one time was really more of a sighting. I was walking down the street in Manhattan when all of a sudden she appeared walking past me. I remember because, after all, it was Mary Tyler Moore.

The same Mary Tyler Moore I spent my lonely high school years with along with Rhoda on the groundbreaking TV sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore show. TV Mary was loved for her come-back-up-from-being-knocked-down, can-do spirit. The real Mary showed much of the same spirit, for decades a JDRF advocate for type 1 diabetes (T1D). At times people said, Isnt she too old? But she widened the circle; she showed the world T1D wasnt just a disease of children. (A lovely tribute by T1D mom Moira McCarthy).

Moore got T1D in her thirties. She lived with it for almost 50 years, along with complications like vision loss. Yet, I never heard her grumble.

The first time I met Mary was at a book signing she was doing at Barnes & Noble. I went. When I reached her to have her sign her book, I was awful cheeky. I handed her my own book, The ABCs Of Loving Yourself With Diabetes. Please, I said, allow me to share a gift with you. I hope you like it. She was gracious. It was a moment.