Florida Times Union newspaper in Jacksonville Florida

Bob Hawkinson Author battles diabetes with a smile



By CHARLIE PATTON, The Times-Union
When Bob Hawkinson was 1 year old, he was diagnosed with diabetes.

The first clue, the Fleming Island resident said, was when he went into a coma caused by low blood sugar.
It was the first of "four or five times I've almost died."
Hawkinson, 45, understands the consequences of his disease, known as type 1 and formerly known as juvenile diabetes.
Living with the disease requires a lifetime of monitoring his blood sugar and regularly injecting himself with the insulin his body doesn't produce. If his blood sugar goes too low, he's in danger of going into a coma and dying. If it goes too high too often, the potential consequences include blindness, amputation and heart disease.
Sounds pretty grim.
But Hawkinson refuses to see it that way.
Which is why he has written and published a book titled The Joy of Diabetes.
As the name indicates, Hawkinson takes a lighthearted approach to a serious subject while conveying the message that "it is important to come to peace with this disease."
"It is," he said. "It just is."
But coming to peace, Hawkinson emphasizes, doesn't mean passively accepting the worst.
"My message?" he said. "Take charge. This is not a passive disease."
Hawkinson decided to create his own publishing imprint, Lifesaver Press, and market the book through his Web site, www.joyofdiabetes.com.
On Diabetes Mine, a blog described as "all things diabetic," a reviewer called Hawkinson "a sraight-talkin' narrator who has walked in our shoes, and offers some very pragmatic diabetes management advice."
Hawkinson grew up in Jacksonville, where he is partner with his brother in TLC Total Lawn Care and The Fresh Mulch Co. They started the business in 1983 with $2,000 they borrowed from their parents. Today they have more than 60 employees, he said.
Hawkinson and his wife, Melissa, to whom he refers as his "hero wife," have four children and a foster daughter. Melissa Hawkinson made national news, including an appearance on Good Morning America, in 2005 after she stopped her car and dove into Doctors Lake so she could pull a 5-year-old boy from an automobile driven into the water by the boy's suicidal father.
Bob Hawkinson likes keeping active. He's involved in martial arts and cycling. He has coached his children in soccer, flag football and basketball, about 30 teams in all, he said. He has been working on his comedy skills with an Orange Park improv group called Out on a Limbprov.
One thing diabetes taught him long ago, he said: "If there's something you want to do, hurry up and do it."

Florida Times Union newspaper in Jacksonville Florida

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be interviewed about The Joy of Diabetes, by Charlie Patten who writes a weekly article called "One of Us". It is typically focused on local folks who are doing things that might be considered interesting and or different.
It was an honor to be even considered to be noteworthy enough to be asked to do an interview. Charlie and his camera man were gentle men and professionals through and through. They tell me the article should print this Tuesday in the Florida Times Union. Look for it soon.....

Keep Going, Peace, Bob