A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

—Confucius 551 b.c.–479 b.c.

It seems like only yesterday that I agreed to step into the role of editor-in-chief for Diabetes Spectrum. In fact it was nearly 6 years ago. That was the first step on a memorable journey I have been privileged to have made alongside many passionate and talented people.

The experience of editing this journal has left me in awe of my many colleagues who have contributed to it. The journal is receiving increasing numbers of unsolicited article submissions from all diabetes-related disciplines. Our From Research to Practice translation sections each have required countless hours of diligent work on the part of the experts who served as guest editors and the associate editors who served as section coordinators. Together, we have tackled many timely clinical issues that our patients face each day. And the articles published in our journal are receiving wider circulation than ever before because of their accessibility online through HighWire Press.

My journey with diabetes, however, began far earlier than my tenure as editor, or even than my career as a nurse. It began when I was still a child, as I watched an aunt who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 3 struggle with repeated uncontrolled hypoglycemia (“Where is the Coke?”) and ultimately with the serious complications of diabetes. Then my brother was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 19. I began …