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Scott Benner 0:05
Hello, everybody, welcome to Episode 331 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's show is as unique as I can make them. Today I'm going to be speaking with a grandmother of two children who have type one diabetes. Now you might think that doesn't sound that unique, Scott. Well, it's because you don't know all the details, surely is the grandmother and I spoke with her, only a few days removed from her 100th birthday. That's right. The grandchildren that she's been trying to help. Those grandchildren are adults with children of their own, but surely is still out there banging the drum for type one diabetes. Awareness. Surely we'll share with you why she's so passionate about type one diabetes. What she thinks of this lockdown for the Coronavirus. She'll actually talk about a lot of different things. Want to find out how refrigerators worked before electricity, or what it was like to hear a radio for the first time surely knows when we chatted about it. When this is all over if you're so inclined, please take a look at the fundraiser Shirley is doing for her 100th birthday celebration. It benefits the jdrf

this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Omni pod Dexcom. The Contour Next One blood glucose meter and touched by type one to get a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod sent directly to your home. Your home was weird. directly to your home, please go to my Omni pod.com forward slash Juicebox Podcast To find out more about the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor dexcom.com Ford slash juice box. By the way, you may be eligible for an absolutely free Contour Next One blood glucose meter you'll find out if you are at Contour Next one.com. And of course my favorite diabetes organization touched by type one, check them out at touched by type one.org. You'll find links to all the sponsors as well as Shirley's fundraiser in the show notes of your podcast player and at Juicebox podcast.com.

Shirley 2:25
My name is Shirley Bornstein, but I actually that's my third lesson. That's your third last name. My first name when I was born is surely blondes thing. Then it was surely Murtha's when I married Stanley Murphy. And then after he died, I married Herman Bornstein. So like my first name, and my present name are just a few letters apart. And I understand from Sarah, that you are in New Jersey.

Unknown Speaker 3:14
I am Yes.

Shirley 3:16
It just, it just so happened. I was born in New Jersey, we're about in de Valle de Leon. And then I when I was three years old, we moved down south. My wife's

Scott Benner 3:30
first professional boss. Oh is the her favorite person she's ever worked for. His name was john and he is from Bayonne still lives there. Now he absolutely loves it there. So when you say you were born in Bayonne, you mean in 1928. Wow. And so in 1923 your family left New Jersey and went to the south. Right? Wow, no kidding. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a lot of questions. I hope you don't mind. You are Have you already celebrated your birthday? Or is it coming up?

Shirley 4:05
No, it was April 25. Last Saturday.

Scott Benner 4:08
Congratulations. It's lovely. tell people how old you are.

Shirley 4:12
And 100 Okay,

Scott Benner 4:14
now does everyone you meet ask you the secret to living to be 100 years old?

Shirley 4:20
Not necessarily. No, surely I'm

Scott Benner 4:22
going to okay. So do you feel like you lived in a way that created longevity or do you not think anything special about your life like that?

Shirley 4:32
No, like, is a friend of mine but pastor The only different thing I did is I didn't

Unknown Speaker 4:44
keep doing it. You're doing great.

Unknown Speaker 4:47
You're you had another friend who lived past 100

Shirley 4:51
No, my family all.

They really didn't live very long. My father died. 65 my mother's 72 my two sisters were in their 70s. And I don't know why I'm living so long. But I may I think it's because I so desperately want to see a cure for type one diabetes. How? How are you connected

Scott Benner 5:23
to type one?

Shirley 5:25
I have two grandchildren.

Scott Benner 5:28
And they both have diabetes.

Shirley 5:30
Type One type one. I have a lot of grandchildren. great grandchildren. I have 24 great grandchildren. But these two have type one. Diabetes, right?

Scott Benner 5:48
Are they both on this? Because you've had, I'm assuming, let me ask you had two husbands. Were you married to both of them for a long enough time to have a family with each of them?

Shirley 5:58
No, no. My first family was with Stanley mirvis. And we got married in 1945. During the war, and he died in 1979. And I had three children. The fam

Scott Benner 6:19
you guys, you guys were married? They're almost 35 years. Yeah, yeah.

Shirley 6:26
And then

when I remarried to Herman Bornstein, have three stepchildren Okay. Wow. Well, I really have six children all together.

Scott Benner 6:39
And so the the grandchildren with a type one diabetes are from your first marriage?

Shirley 6:45
Yes. And from his older I in my oldest son.

Scott Benner 6:53
Okay. And and So tell me a little bit about your grandkids. How, how old are they? Do we? Will we say their names on here? Do you keep that private? No. What do you want to know? Let's start with how old they are.

Shirley 7:05
Oh, Bruce, my oldest

child is 72. And he's a pediatrician. And in the front line on this virus right now, and he's married to a nurse who goes into the hospital every day. And they're the two I worry about the most course. They had three children have three children. Kirsten Sarah, who has the Type One Diabetes. And then the youngest, his name is Stanley after his grandfather. And he is really a hero. I have to mention him. Because when Gus needed a kidney, and his failed due to diabetes, got a family stepped up to the plate and gave him a kidney. That's amazing.

Scott Benner 8:07
That is a very selfless thing. Have you ever thought about that? I have, like, could you give an organ to someone if they asked for it? It's a big decision.

Shirley 8:16
He made the decision. Yeah. Well, they were looking for a donor. He stepped up and said test me. And he was a good match. That's amazing.

Scott Benner 8:27
How old is Gus and Sarah and Stanley.

Shirley 8:31
He's about 42 or 43. In his 40s Okay. Yeah. And danly was born in 81.

Scott Benner 8:43
Anyone? 2001 so he's about 30. Yes. 30. Did your son Bruce have an oops baby. And was it Stanley?

Unknown Speaker 8:53
No, no, no, not an extra one. At the end. I got just Well,

Shirley 8:56
listen, I've been married for

a number of years. Sarah was the old.

Scott Benner 9:03
Okay. Sarah is older. So Sarah is older than Gus.

Shirley 9:07
Oh, yes.

Scott Benner 9:08
Did they all live nearby with you? In the south?

Shirley 9:10
No. They live in Columbus, Ohio. And I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Scott Benner 9:16
How long have you been working to help raise awareness for type one diabetes?

Shirley 9:24
Since 1985, my goodness. That's when I retired. I was working for Emory University Medical School with a very prominent cardiologist. And then at one go, and then I retired in 1985 when I was 65. And went to work. Oh, almost immediately. jdrf

Scott Benner 9:56
No kidding. What surely What did you do for 35 years.

Shirley 10:00
25 years I've worked. I did research. I was a research coordinator on cardiac research. Wow.

Scott Benner 10:09
That's amazing. Do you ever feel like you've had four lives?

Shirley 10:16
Well, I've done a lot of different

Unknown Speaker 10:19
have. I mean, you?

Shirley 10:23
I graduated from Temple University with a degree in medical technology.

Scott Benner 10:29
Okay. I grew up just outside of Philadelphia. You came up here from Atlanta to go to school? Yeah. Wow. That's amazing. That's so yeah, because they offered a great, huh? Okay, now he was that something? Was that uncommon for women? Or no? Were you like leading the way being a woman in that industry?

Shirley 10:52
No, no, there were other women. I have really wanted to be a doctor. But in the 1930s, it wasn't considered proper for a woman to be a doctor, including my father, who was very opposed to it. So I found another Korea.

Scott Benner 11:18
I'm sorry, do you think you would have made a good doctor?

Shirley 11:25
I don't have a crystal ball. But I probably would have gone into research.

Scott Benner 11:31
Yeah. That's amazing. You know, it. You said that happened? Yeah, I guess at the end of the 1930s, when my wife went into college, and told her parents, she wanted to be a doctor. They said, Well, what about a nurse? You know, I don't think that ever hasn't gone away too much. For some reason for some people, the idea that women shouldn't do that, but obviously they can and should. So you had to, you know, married two different men love two men, raised a family, worked a full career, retired at a good age, and then went on to spend 35 years, right To this day, still trying to, you know, hold up the jdrf, which is really amazing. Do you have any idea how much money you've raised over the years for them?

Shirley 12:14
Oh, no idea. But never stop.

Scott Benner 12:19
Just keep going. How do you do that? How do you? How do you talk to people about diabetes?

Shirley 12:25
I tell them, it's a terrible disease. And the biggest robber of childhood, I can imagine, because I know, most of the children that I raised, and that I know, had very carefree childhoods, who thought about shots, and cash and blood sugars? Yeah. But then they came my grandchildren who had to cope with this.

Scott Benner 12:56
Yeah, and it goes since he was three years old. And Gus needed a kidney. And you're saying that was from diabetes? How old? Was he about when that happened? Do you remember?

Shirley 13:09
He might have been in his 20s.

Unknown Speaker 13:12
Do you

Scott Benner 13:13
know much about how your grandchildren manage their diabetes? And how's it changed over the years for them?

Shirley 13:19
Oh, what changed completely? I think in the beginning, you did urine test to figure out how much with insulin you needed. And since then, there have been tremendous advances.

Scott Benner 13:37
Yeah, there really are. My daughter's wearing an insulin pump right now. And glucose monitor right. We'll do. Oh, Sarah and Gus. Well, enough now to

Unknown Speaker 13:51
Oh, yeah. Yeah,

Scott Benner 13:52
that's excellent.

Shirley 13:53
And glasses. biggest problem from the diabetes is his eyesight. He's legally blind. I'm sorry. And he has we have gotten him a diabetic dog who lets him know when his blood sugar's are up or down. And that's a tremendous help. Cuz it's hard for him to read a small sensor.

Scott Benner 14:22
Yeah, yeah. I think about that, you know, when I think about it, I'm I'm I'm only 48 I By the way, thank you. You make me feel young today. I don't get that feeling too often. But when I'm now feeling like I've only lived like two of my four lives, so I'm doing okay. But at night when I go into help my daughter in the last five or so years, I need glasses now to look at the meter. And it made me right away. Think of all the people who need glasses who were by themselves and wake up in the middle of night need to look at these things and can't see them is Gus I'm married or is he alone? What's his situation?

Shirley 14:59
Oh, he's mad. Lily has a little girl who's fun.

Scott Benner 15:04
Good. That's amazing. Do you think they worry about his daughter perhaps getting diabetes one day? Do you ever talk about that? Well, of course.

Shirley 15:11
And Sarah has two little girls. So I have three great grandchildren that I keep hoping will avoid. Type One Diabetes. Yeah.

Scott Benner 15:27
How is your health in general? I know that you're I know your age. But do you? Have you been through things in your life that you've battled past?

Shirley 15:35
Oh, sure. Hasn't everybody?

Scott Benner 15:38
Oh, yeah. my list is starting to build up. No, but but you know, it's just interesting. Like, I kind of imagined that if somebody sees you, at 100, they might think you were just, you know, you were so lucky. You just didn't get sick. nothing ever happened. But you've had surgeries and gone through hard times.

Shirley 15:55
I've had I

think I can't go back to the doctor right now with this being isolated. Yeah. But I have battled breast cancer. And I'm taking a pill letrozole. That last examination is shrunk. And I'm just hoping it continues to shrink. Yeah.

Scott Benner 16:25
No, that's. So if you've not had breast cancer for long, when were you diagnosed with that?

Unknown Speaker 16:31
Oh,

Shirley 16:34
just two or three years ago, okay.

Scott Benner 16:37
And you're using medication to treat it right now.

Shirley 16:40
I take pills left herself. Yeah. And I've also had surgery on for a hernia, um, that the colon came through and was very painful. And I guess I had all the childhood things.

Scott Benner 17:03
Right. How much can I ask you how much activity you get in the course of a day? What do you do to stay? I don't mobile like my, my mom who I tease all the time about being older. 76. And now I feel like I owe her an apology. But she you know, she I know what she does to stay. You know, active. What do you do?

Shirley 17:23
Well, for years, I did Thai tea. And then I had a very bad fall. And I have to use a walker. Okay. Um, I'm not as steady as I used to be. And I try to keep active. Yeah. But it's limited right now. I use this Walker Walker slows down. Hey,

Scott Benner 17:54
I can't imagine you like it now. But I guess it helps you. So in the end.

Shirley 18:00
I had a very bad fall. Last year, I was 19 when I had this bad fall. And I haven't been as mobile since.

Scott Benner 18:12
Yeah. I'm sorry to hear that. I

Shirley 18:14
I stay at

work on the computer. I read a lot. And I try to stay active.

Scott Benner 18:27
Do you watch Netflix? Do you have a favorite show?

Shirley 18:31
Just the news in the evening news.

Scott Benner 18:33
Yeah.

Shirley 18:34
And then find that depressing? Well, no, I can't listen. I hear you. Can

Scott Benner 18:40
I ask you how? Because you have a lot of, you know, historical knowledge. You've I mean, you've saw, I guess you saw a couple of pandemics throughout the years how

Shirley 18:52
I was born.

After the end of the last pandemic, no kidding on the Spanish flu. Okay, which I guess 1917 1819 it was. But then I was born in 19 2020.

Scott Benner 19:12
trying to think what? When was legionnaires in Philly?

Shirley 19:16
Oh, it was a few years back. Yeah, I bet you started on a cruise ship. And they contributed it to air conditioning

Scott Benner 19:27
in a hotel in Philadelphia, right?

Unknown Speaker 19:31
Yes,

Scott Benner 19:31
yeah. I yeah. I wonder when that was. I'm gonna find out Hold on one second. 1976

Unknown Speaker 19:41
Okay. Wow.

Scott Benner 19:42
8696 2016 Wow, that was a long time ago. Okay, and so and so how are you finding this idea of? I mean, what's the most limiting aspect for you being an older person? Is it not being able to go to the doctor is it the idea Have you know you can't really be in contact with people? How does it affect

Shirley 20:04
in contact with people all the time? Oh, we've done this through email through telephone. No. And, and on my birthday, we had a zoom of about 100 people. That's

Scott Benner 20:21
amazing. And I know you We won't meet her but you have a health health worker who lives with you she there 24 seven with you.

Shirley 20:28
Yes, that's nice. He doesn't wait. She was here when we began to hear how bad it was. And she's been here ever since. A takes care of their high school daughter. They're isolated. And he comes over and brings things in, they wave through the window. What they do not see each other. Oh, my goodness. And she's doing I mean, they see each other they do not have any personal contact.

Scott Benner 20:58
Right. And is that to keep you safe? Yeah, that's wonderful. It's very lovely of them to do.

Shirley 21:04
Oh, she is wonderful person. I don't know why she walked out.

Scott Benner 21:09
Oh, yeah. We tried to get her to stay on the camera. The beginning. She said this isn't for me. Well, that's really amazing that How long has she been with you?

Shirley 21:20
Since the beginning of March.

Scott Benner 21:22
No kidding. That's really wonderful ever. That's lovely. And so you're not able to go to your doctor's right now. What do you think about? I have to ask you, because you're in Atlanta and Georgia's talking about opening up restrictions.

Shirley 21:35
Oh, they all they'll opening up all kinds of things. I think our governor Bruce completely stoked.

Scott Benner 21:43
Surely, I was wondering what you're gonna say, but I appreciate you being honest.

Shirley 21:47
Very young. Yeah. Yeah. I think he's an idiot. And I think we're gonna have an upswing of this stupid virus.

Scott Benner 21:57
Yeah. I don't see how opening up

Shirley 22:01
nail salons.

Scott Benner 22:01
tattoo portals. Can you think that anything worse? No, no, I I'm trying to understand why. Those are the first things that we're we're getting to I guess I know.

Shirley 22:14
You don't I mean, I think he

probably owns a strip mall.

I think he's thinking your money is more important than health.

Scott Benner 22:26
might be. I think you're I think you're right. I think you know, it's a short lesson, we obviously have to get the the economy going at some point, you know, eventually will cause such a problem financially will kill people in a different way. But in the moment, it is really difficult not to feel like that. Like it's a it's a you're putting, you know, money in front of health. I just pulled up your, your type one diabetes fundraiser that you have set up for your birthday for your birthday. And my goodness, you're, you're up to $29,000.

Shirley 22:58
Okay, and let's give them

Unknown Speaker 23:02
the link the link Well,

Scott Benner 23:03
the links a little it's long, right? So what I'll do to You don't think so? Hold on What? I can

Shirley 23:10
tell it to you in those few seconds. Don't maybe

Scott Benner 23:13
I'm looking at the wrong one. Go ahead.

Shirley 23:15
www to jdrf.org slash go to slash cheryle be 100

Scott Benner 23:29
surely be 100. So www.jdrf.org slash go to slash surely be 100. Why I did it. Okay, so I'm going to put that show. You don't need to know about this. But when I post your video and your audio, I'll put that link right where people can click on it. And I hope that people from the podcast Shirley's trying to get the $35,000 and she's a little over 29,000. So if anybody can kick in, that would be really, really nice.

Shirley 24:01
Okay, and I think they do the s in surely capital. Okay.

Capital B's rest in lowercase.

Scott Benner 24:11
Don't worry, I'll get I'll make sure I have it right when I share it. And people can click on it. Alright, listen, I get to talk to you a little more about the virus. So is it when you first You said you're listening to the news. So a number of weeks ago when it's all becoming kind of obvious What's happening? How do you prepare just to protect yourself or immediately

Shirley 24:33
to stay home? Just stay isolated? Yeah.

Scott Benner 24:38
Just is there's nothing more to it right. Just keep yourself for a little while and let people pass let let medicines

Shirley 24:45
not have any contract. And God bless Valencia. She was here listening to the news with me, because I had a group of caretakers that took turns Because my son's all thought I should never be left alone, right? After that bad fall, I had worse. And I said, I think we should be isolated. And she said, I think so too. And we agreed we'd stayed together. She talked to her husband. And they agreed to he'd stay isolated with their daughter. And she'd stay isolated with me.

Scott Benner 25:32
It just it makes sense. My family has been, you know, we've been all together in this house for my gosh, it's coming up on. It's gonna be two months in a couple of weeks. So we're over six weeks already. And

Shirley 25:45
tell me what your family consists of?

Scott Benner 25:48
Well, I've been married to my wife, Kelly since 1996. And we have two children. My son is 20 years old. His name is Cole. He's a college student. But you know, they they sent him home, obviously. So he's finishing up his sophomore year, this week, online. And my daughter is also a sophomore, but in high school, so she's 15. And she's the one who has type one diabetes. She was diagnosed when she was two years old.

Shirley 26:15
Anyone else in your family have tried?

Scott Benner 26:19
So surely, I'm adopted? So I don't have any history beyond me on my bloodline. But on my wife's side of the family, there is a fair amount of other autoimmune issues, but not type one diabetes. Do you see that in your family? Do you see other autoimmune stuff like hypothyroidism or celiac?

Shirley 26:42
Yes. And strangely enough, it's one of my grandson's on my step. family that has silly acts. So our immune diseases, so Alright,

Scott Benner 26:59
yeah. Now they're more prevalent, it seems to me over the last couple of decades and they have been prior or maybe there were just things that we didn't know about? I'm not sure.

Shirley 27:07
Well, I think there's two reasons for that. One is climate change, and a lot of pollutants in the air. And also better testing and diagnosing right

Scott Benner 27:25
now. Yeah, I think so too. I it's hard to argue with. I mean, you're seeing it over the last couple of weeks, right? We're all in our homes. So we're not driving our cars and factories aren't running. And even my son who doesn't pay attention to stuff like this at all said to me the other day, have you noticed that the air feels fresher? It's it's just he's like, it's almost neutral. Like there's no odor to it whatsoever. And you're getting those reports from all over the country that smog and pollution are lifting. And all these things are, look how quickly they changed. You know, in a few weeks

Shirley 27:58
that we learned stop factors,

Scott Benner 28:01
there's got to be a way to do things that we have to do that are better, there is a more safe way for everyone. Because, you know, it's not gonna matter how cheaply we can make a cell phone if we're all hiding in our house for the rest of our lives, right. The Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor will give you invaluable data. How would you like to know the speed and direction that your blood sugar is moving? Is it climbing at one point per minute, two points? How fast is it falling? How would you like to know if you're going to be under 5520 minutes from now, the dexcom g six can tell you that Dexcom also offers a share and follow feature, meaning that a loved one with type one diabetes can be anywhere. And their information will go up into the cloud and down to a follower. It almost is magical. But honestly, it's just the cloud. I guess that's not that magical. It is however available for iPhone and Android. For instance, right now, I'll pick up my phone, I will unlock my phone and tell you that my daughter's blood sugar is 148. Actually, I'd like her to do a little bit of a bolus. So I'm just gonna send her a text and say one unit. My daughter happens to be downstairs right now. But that's exactly the way we handle our blood sugar when she's at school, or at a friend's house or at a sporting event. And you could to find out more@dexcom.com Ford slash juice box. You can also use the same insulin pump that RJ has been wearing since she was four years old. It's not hard to do. You go to my omnipod.com forward slash juice box and ask on the pod to send you a free, no obligation demo, which they will do. It'll arrive at your home and you or your child or loved one can wear the army pod to see how fields to see how it looks to see how it would integrate into your life, then you're going to get a real feeling for what it means when I say a tubeless insult, I'm not connected to anything, nothing to clip to your belt, really small, you can kind of hide it if you want to, or were proud. Doesn't matter. Whatever makes you feel right. My omnipod.com forward slash juice box dexcom.com forward slash juice box links in the show notes at Juicebox podcast.com. Five second dance party and then back to Shirley.

Tommy over the years, what have you done for the jdrf?

Shirley 30:49
Well, I used to work in the office too. We got paid staff. And I also started, I figured that education was the most important thing. And children should know and understand what's happening to them. So I started a children's educational project program. And we called it sugar show where kids learn. We did all kinds of things that asking about type one diabetes, so children could understand. And now I think everyone understands how important education is. And we have the type one nations summit. That's education for everybody. For the children, for parents, for caregivers, for teachers, everyone needs to understand this.

Scott Benner 31:56
Do you? Do you know that I just gave a talk in Atlanta at your type one diabetes nation summit. That's what I understand. I come to the summit's. I done about eight or nine of them in the last year. So and I come and I explain how we use insulin, I'd seems overly simple, but we talk about how we use insulin to stop spikes and to stop low blood sugars so that you can have more stability and spend less time thinking about your blood sugar. And I I love those events, those type one nation events are wonderful. They bring in

Shirley 32:27
all kinds of great, I'm sorry, I didn't know about you out have been in Utah and to listen to you.

Scott Benner 32:35
Were you there that day?

Shirley 32:38
Probably. I know this many things.

Scott Benner 32:41
I was excellent. You really missed it. Man. Hopefully I can come back. When all of this you know goes get becomes less common and do it again. I would love to meet you in person. That would be wonderful. So you worked right. So you were a volunteer until they got an office staff. You help build programs. I guess you make phone calls for donations and all that stuff. Have you ever Oh, yes.

Shirley 33:05
And I also started with grandparents.

grandparents.

Scott Benner 33:12
That's lovely. You know, I have a lot of so I don't know how much you understand about what I do. But usually I don't record video, I just record audio. And it's available for people to listen to, through a podcast. And it's it's incredibly popular. And now what is your podcast? It's called the Juicebox Podcast. So I interview people who have type one diabetes, or the parents of type ones. A lot of CEOs of companies that do things around diabetes, and we just talk either conversationally like this hearing people's stories. Sometimes we talk about real management stuff, the way to use insulin. We talk about technology and where it's going. It's been on the podcast is it's six years old. There's 330 episodes of this. So

Shirley 34:02
what's the name of the juice?

Scott Benner 34:05
Yeah, it's called the Juicebox Podcast, because you know, people use juice boxes to bring their blood sugars up. So yeah, so yeah, that's, that's what it's called. And I've had it for a long time, I started to write about diabetes in 2007. And then in 2014, I started thinking about making this into an audio show. It took me about six months to figure out all the technical stuff and then I started the show in January of 2015.

Shirley 34:34
No, if I wanted to listen to it. What do I do? Well,

Scott Benner 34:39
you could do you have an iPhone? Do you have a phone? Yeah, there's a if you have an iPhone, there's an app on the iPhone where you can listen. You can

Shirley 34:49
juice box,

Scott Benner 34:50
it's called it's called Juicebox Podcast. I will send you a link so you can see you can Valencia can help you get on it. Good. Okay, so you'll at least be able to listen to yourself. No, no, every you know, everyone thinks they're not going to be good. And then everyone ends up doing a wonderful job. It's very interesting. No one thinks they have anything interesting to say. But they always do. I have to ask you a little bit about the cost of diabetes now versus before. And I guess just the cost of things in general and how you've seen them change over your life. Do you remember things like what you paid for your house, your first home and things like that?

Shirley 35:32
Oh, I certainly do. I'd love them. gone up. Amazingly.

Unknown Speaker 35:38
Low bed, right.

Scott Benner 35:40
Yeah. What did you pay for your first home?

Shirley 35:44
My First Home or this home?

Scott Benner 35:46
Well, do you remember your very first home and when you got married? What you pay?

Shirley 35:52
Well, we weren't. We win. And then I'm talking right. But then the first house we bought was $23,000.

Scott Benner 36:00
No kidding. Isn't that something? And now, real estate in Atlanta is incredibly expensive. I do I wonder what that house is worth now?

Shirley 36:11
Oh, I probably cook way up. And the house I live in now. And I'm still in my own house. I bought in 1964. Okay, so I have been here quite a while.

Scott Benner 36:27
What did you pay for that?

Shirley 36:30
Can you hear me? I can't

Scott Benner 36:31
I'm sorry. I was wondering what you paid for the this house that you're in now?

Shirley 36:35
$50,000 50,000?

Scott Benner 36:39
Is it paid off? Oh, it's all yours, I guess.

Shirley 36:42
Oh, sure.

Scott Benner 36:44
That's thunder.

Shirley 36:45
pay that off ages ago. And I have been offered amazing amounts of money for it. But I have no intention of selling it moving. I would hate to live in one of those retirement places and be with old people. I have neighbors. I have children that have moved in. And I enjoy children. Yeah,

Scott Benner 37:16
no, I don't think there's any reason for you to go. Especially if you're able and you have good help. I listen, I think for people who have to go to a home if they have to. They have to but your situation is it's too poor.

Shirley 37:28
I love my house. Yeah. And I have very good hell.

Scott Benner 37:33
Yeah. Good for you. That's why me you've lived in that house over 50 years. Is that right?

Shirley 37:37
Oh, fifth day? Um, well, we now in 20. So 56 years. Okay. That's amazing.

Scott Benner 37:48
You bought that house? Eight years before I was born. And I've owned and I've owned this house for 20 years. So that's pretty great. It really is an exception to ever think about how kind of exceptional it is for you to be very independent at your age and doing all that it really is uncommon, isn't it?

Shirley 38:15
Well, I don't know anyone my age. All my friend's dad.

Scott Benner 38:21
What is that? Like? Is it is it hard to see people go over and over? Do you?

Shirley 38:27
Yeah, it would be nice to see your dear friend.

Scott Benner 38:32
Oh, right. No, I just wondered if it got easier over the years if you came to expect it. But I don't imagine it's

Shirley 38:39
never easy.

Scott Benner 38:41
Do you have an idea of how old you think you're going to be like, Do you ever wonder about that?

Shirley 38:47
Well tell your story with my 99th birthday. One of my sons gave a party and one of my grandson Stanley, in fact,

Bruce's youngest son

called me and said he was sorry, he couldn't be there. It was too busy. He's been made the head of the history department at our zona state. And he had so much to do and curriculum and lectures and he didn't have time. But he said you probably have some time, about 10 years. So he'll promise he'll give me my heart. He'll take care of my hundred and 10th birthday party. I don't have to worry about it. So I'll be around for Stanley to do my 10th birthday party imagine

Scott Benner 39:47
you will be by the way. I really do. That's something else. I was just thinking and I and it the your story was delightful and the thought went out of my head. Oh, what? When you think back on your life, if you were to share some thing with someone a regret or something you've learned that you think is really important to know is do you have a nugget like that like something you'd want people to know about? About living?

Shirley 40:18
I have been asked, What do I think is the greatest advance I've seen in my lifetime? Number one, I'd say dryers. I hated going outside hanging up clothes to dry. And the second thing I think, is the most important, most rewarding advance of cell phones. when my kids were teenagers. I didn't have we didn't have cell phones, right. And I used to worry about too late got at home, too. I heard that door open.

Scott Benner 41:00
And especially after they started to drive, and it's so good. Now. If you have a teenager, out in the call, you can call and let us know where they are. And when they're coming home. That's not so convenient. I have to tell you show you don't know this about me. But a while ago now. I think it's been more than seven years. I wrote a book. And the the title of the book is life is short laundry is eternal. Because I've been a stay at home dad for over 20 years. And the only thing I hate about it is doing the laundry. But I've never had to hang clothes up to dry them. I guess if I had that I'd really hate it.

Shirley 41:41
Well, if you had we got a washing machine. But then I had to take the clothes outside to drive.

Unknown Speaker 41:49
Yeah, you've said

Scott Benner 41:52
you've seen refrigerators that

Unknown Speaker 41:54
you had ice though I remember

Shirley 41:56
the ice man coming with the ice.

Scott Benner 41:58
That's something my grandmother used to talk about that about a block of ice that went in the bottom of the refrigerator to keep the food cold. And the man would come every so often with a new block of ice.

Shirley 42:10
And I can remember though, wonderful, fresh vegetables. We used to have a farmer that came with his I guess it was a horse and buggy. And he brought vegetables to us every day that he picked in the morning, and a mama would go out and pick the ones we'd have for dinner. Yeah. And we had really fresh that nothing tastes as good as it used to

Scott Benner 42:45
Eve you know even stuff you're not supposed to eat like cereal in a box. It I don't know what happened. But when they stopped using sugar it doesn't it doesn't work right anymore. Like every I that's interesting. I said this is not the same thing because you said Doritos, or you said vegetables but I said to my wife the other night. Doritos don't taste the way they did when we were kids. And I don't eat them because of that. And and it is interesting how the production of food changes the flavor, but we don't know just because it happens sort of slowly. And we don't have people like you who remembered from a different time. That's interesting. That is really interesting. You know, it told

Shirley 43:23
me that butter tasted so much better. We got butter from a farmer who churned and we never got sticks. We got a clone. And then buttermilk was just the milk left after the butter formed. It didn't taste like that sour stuff they called buttermilk today, right?

Unknown Speaker 43:48
You know, delicious. Yeah, no kidding. And

Scott Benner 43:51
fresh and just organic. There was not much to it other than the than what it was, you know, I just realized I was very close with my my grandmother growing up. And she passed away when I was 16. And she was 72 then, so I just did the math while you were talking about butter. So she'd be 104 today. And I can remember so vividly that she got a microwave when microwaves came out. But she was so scared of it. She'd only ever heat water up at it. She would never do anything else with she wouldn't cook with it. And I'm wondering did that seem very foreign to you? When those came out?

Shirley 44:25
I think I have a microwave. I use. I have used it. I think it ruins food. And more more. I would much rather use a real oven. I agree. I think it ruins the taste of food. Right?

Scott Benner 44:44
What is your favorite meal? What do you enjoy eating still?

Shirley 44:48
lamb chops.

Unknown Speaker 44:50
How do you like them made?

Shirley 44:52
Oh, I love them with

Scott Benner 44:57
the little man. Now. You've been down south for a while. I guess Huh?

Shirley 45:01
Yeah. since I was three years old,

Scott Benner 45:05
except for college and then you came back right away again. Where? Yeah. Where did you meet your first husband?

Shirley 45:12
Right here in Atlanta. He was from New York. got a job in Atlanta. And

he was great. Yeah.

Scott Benner 45:25
That's interesting.

Shirley 45:26
He was a wonderful guy. And we wrote all during the war. He was overseas. We wrote every day. I have every letter he ever wrote me in Cedar chest downstairs. I yeah. And he only came home on r&r. It's near the end of the war. And we got married. And he went back overseas again. Okay,

Scott Benner 46:00
so you almost made me cry when you said you have all the letters. Just so you know, I got all. I got all emotional when you said that. That's so wonderful. Do you ever go back and look at them? I cry. Yeah, I would too. I have to tell you.

Shirley 46:15
And they make me cry. Yeah, I can't I keep saying I'm gonna go through a mall. But I just can't.

Unknown Speaker 46:24
Do your children know that they exist? Oh, yes.

Scott Benner 46:27
Oh, that's lovely. That really is something else. You must you must have just seen so many strange things. You know, I mean, honestly,

Unknown Speaker 46:39
like technology. Remember,

Shirley 46:41
I remember the first time I heard a radio, my father brought one home. And we all sat down on the couch. And he turned it on. And lo and behold, lo Thomas came.

Remember that distinctly?

Scott Benner 47:03
You know, the only story I have like that is that my father bought a VCR home one day. And then we went to a local pharmacy that rented movies in the back. And they had like 20 different movies on those videotapes. And we felt like we were wealthy because no one had them at that point. And I don't know what made my dad do that, because we grew up so poor. I don't know what what made him spend a bunch of money on something like that. But it was it was crazy that that was that and now, you know, now you watch movies on your phone or on your computer. It's just so simple. But I was gonna say Is that you? You live through so many big leaps in technology. And now the technology that we use every day, it doesn't grow as fast anymore. It's just amazing. All the things that you've that you've seen, and I mean, even just air travel, did you do a lot of flying as a as a younger person?

Shirley 47:54
Yes, I love flying.

Scott Benner 47:57
Where are some places you've been?

Shirley 48:00
lots of places. I have my children or where my butterfly? buttercups that you blow dandelions all over. So I have one son in Oregon. I have one son in from another son in

Unknown Speaker 48:23
Ohio. Oh, my.

Scott Benner 48:26
It's hard. My wife and I talk about that a lot. We we were trying to imagine like letting the kids settle somewhere and then trying to find a central place where we can be reasonably close to them. But I know I

Shirley 48:39
went around to all mine. Yeah.

Cuz then if I go to them, I can see all the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Whereas if they came here, just one came. But now that's what happens. Right. And I've been to a lot of countries in Europe.

I have been to Israel.

Unknown Speaker 49:07
I'm

Shirley 49:09
done on cruises in the Caribbean.

You've been around quite a few places. Yeah.

When you feel good. Come back to it. While

right

Scott Benner 49:22
now. It's a lovely place. I've been to Atlanta a number of times, not just to speak but my son used to go there a lot to play baseball. And I would go with him. But it gets super It's so hot there in the summertime. Do you can you even go outside in the heat of the summer? How do you handle that?

Unknown Speaker 49:38
I love it, do you?

Scott Benner 49:41
You would laugh at me when I'm in Atlanta then I we were in a baseball field one day. And my son played two games. So it was the second game and I had been outside all day. And I found myself I found a telephone pole and I stood next to it. And as the sun moved, I just kept shimmying around the telephone pole trying to stay in the little shadow there. It was making I thought it was gonna fry me. I really did. But you it's it you get used to

Shirley 50:06
remember before we had air conditioning? Oh my goodness, just

Scott Benner 50:12
yeah, I guess you body really does become accustomed to it right?

Unknown Speaker 50:16
Yeah,

Scott Benner 50:17
that's amazing. Good for you. Oh, I've kept you very long. I did not mean to keep you this long. I'm so sorry. Are you okay for time?

Shirley 50:25
Oh, I'm fine. No.

Scott Benner 50:28
So then I have nowhere to go. None of us do right? I don't have anywhere to go either. I do. I am God speaking of time, maybe this won't resonate with you. But let me know if it does. as I've gotten older. In the beginning, when I was younger, the days felt like they took forever.

Shirley 50:46
And then now they will.

Scott Benner 50:48
Now they feel like they go by much more quickly. And I've lost track of the idea of a day a week seemed to go by quickly. I sometimes I watch my feet go on the floor in the morning and I just think, Wow, I'm just I'm on a hamster wheel here. It just keeps happening over and over again. Does that feeling ever go away where you're cognizant of time?

Shirley 51:08
Because time goes by faster and faster. Every day?

Scott Benner 51:15
Do you ever find yourself not worrying about it? Or is it still something you think about?

Shirley 51:21
can think about I can't worry about it?

Unknown Speaker 51:26
Yeah,

Scott Benner 51:27
I don't worry. I don't worry about it. I just I'm aware of it. I guess.

Shirley 51:32
I don't know if that means and time goes faster and faster. And it used to go real slow when you were young.

Scott Benner 51:42
Yeah. Cuz you're busy you think or because you're not aware of an end. Do you know? I can't give you the race. Yeah, I don't know either. I just I think about it a lot. And I just wondered if it was something that that maybe one day I would just be alive for so long that I'd stop. I'd stop noticing it because there's other things you know, they mean that I don't notice anymore. But yeah, I don't know. It feels like that movie Groundhog Day. You ever see that one with with Bill Murray?

Unknown Speaker 52:09
Sure.

Scott Benner 52:12
Oh my gosh. What do you when you do get out when we're not like what's the first thing you're gonna go do when you're able to get out of your house again for enjoyment?

Shirley 52:23
I guess just drive around.

Scott Benner 52:28
See everything again?

Shirley 52:30
They go see? Go see money You know I love my step grandchildren. will be great to go

Scott Benner 52:38
see them feel like you're not gonna get sick for being there and everything. Have you in Valencia gone for a ride? Have you broken out and just?

Shirley 52:45
No, no most I've done is on my birthday. I went to the end of my driveway. And they had a big parade. Led by fire orange 20 car. It was while

Unknown Speaker 53:01
that's lovely. Did you

Scott Benner 53:03
guys get some

Unknown Speaker 53:04
video of it? You have a little video?

Scott Benner 53:06
Yeah, do you? Oh, that's wonderful. That's that's a very nice memory to have. Your town got together and did that.

Shirley 53:14
My stepchildren got that

Scott Benner 53:16
all set up for you. That's very nice. It's lovely.

Shirley 53:20
And they had quite big they did it in the middle of the night. A great big fans all across my front yard. That said Happy 100th birthday, grandma Shirley.

Scott Benner 53:36
Nice. Listen, I have to say I when I was looking at your your jdrf page, the people making large donations on your behalf they that you must have a lot of good friends that know how hard you've worked on this because there are 5000 2000 there are big donations here.

Shirley 53:52
Well, don't let up. Yeah, right. Like wanting to raise money for jdrf and find a cure. Yeah.

Scott Benner 54:00
Well, I hope I hope we can i and i think i want to thank you for this talk. This was really lovely. I appreciate the time that you said.

Shirley 54:06
Thank you. Very interesting, man. Thank you. What is your name again? Scott. Scott. Yep. And you do love Juicebox

Scott Benner 54:16
Podcast? That's 100% right? Yep. Okay, I'm gonna make sure you have a link to this so that you can hear it and see it if you want to. Oh, I do. And I find and it was nice to just say interesting. I would have liked if you said handsome but

Shirley 54:33
yeah.

Scott Benner 54:35
Thank you and humble to I would say

Shirley 54:40
Well, I think you're out there, pushing your foot. A cure to for type one.

Scott Benner 54:45
I'll tell you this. Surely What I love most about the jdrf is how hard they work in Washington for people with type one diabetes, their rights. You know that stuff that they do is incredibly important. I am incredibly hopeful. About a cure. But I also know that day to day advancements that have been made in pumping and glucose monitors are all they make people's lives better today for diabetes. I

Shirley 55:11
also did mention that I work with the advocacy committee,

Scott Benner 55:17
you do you do with them as well? Have you ever been up to that big thing in Washington that they do? The Children's Congress?

Shirley 55:24
No, I never went to that.

But I have been to Washington on behalf of the jdrf.

Well, I'm always on.

Scott Benner 55:35
That's nice. So you'll probably you'll tell anybody who sits still long enough about diabetes and the need for this support. Right?

Unknown Speaker 55:43
Right. Yeah.

Scott Benner 55:44
It's very, it's, it's just very kind of you to spend your time that way. I really appreciate it. And I'm sure everybody else does, too. I'm gonna say thank you. And, and, and, and go by but this has been really genuinely a nice way to spend my Friday afternoon. Thank you very much.

Shirley 56:00
Okay. And I hope I get to talk with you again.

Scott Benner 56:03
That would be nice. We'll do it. We'll definitely do it on your hundred and 10th birthday for sure. But But know that the next time you have something to share you let me know. I would love to do this again. Take care. Thank you. Yep, have a great day. You too. Thank you. Bye bye. Huge thanks to Shirley for coming on and sharing with us 100 years of perspective and her passion for Type One Diabetes awareness. Please don't forget to support Shirley's campaign to raise money for the jdrf there are links in your show notes at Juicebox podcast.com. Thank you also to Omni pod Dexcom the Contour Next One blood glucose meter and touched by type one for sponsoring the show. You can go to my omnipod.com forward slash juice box dexcom.com forward slash juice box with the links in your show notes are the ones you'll find at Juicebox podcast.com. To find out more.

Shirley 57:06
w w w www to jdrf.org slash go to slash Shirley be 100