I know you probably get HUNDREDS of fan e-mails a day (so what’s one more ;))…but I just felt so compelled to send you this little note just in hope that you may read it while sifting through your other material. I was watching “American Latino” late tonight and as I was walking by the television I stopped dead in my tracks by a drop dead gorgeous vision. You were being interviewed and I fell in love instantly….it is rare to see someone with the combination of intelligence and beauty that you possess. However, this isn’t your typical “Can we go on a date” e-mail that you might get (even though I wouldn’t mind). Actualy I’m writing this to you based on your work on type 2 diabetes education. Unfortunately I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at an early age (around 12) and I’ve been lucky in terms of not having to take insulin or oral medications because I was so active and really didn’t ahve a tendency to eat anything that would elevate my sugar levels (breads, sugar, pasta, etc). I also assume that I had a coping mechanism that would keep me from thinking about the effects uncontrolled sugar levels can have, and I think part of it was to keep me from realizing that I had a disease. I’m older now (32) and I don’t exercise as much anymore and starting to slip into some pretty bad eating habits. I never realized how potentially bad this could be until I listened to your stories about your Father and all the unfortunate side effeects that resulted from our shared illness. I started to think that I am so lucky that none of these major side effects have occured to me and I should not squander the opportunity to get my health back in check. I just wanted to let you know that I really admire what you are doing in terms of  your diabetes eductation and raising our health conscious levels. Especially in our cultures, with you being latina and I being african american and mexican, due to the foods we eat (and LOVE) these illnesses are unfortunately all to prevalent. I hope everything else goes well with your career, and I have every confidence that it will because you have a lot of good karma coming back your way.