I met my wife online in March 2011. We clicked almost instantly and married on August 4, 2012. We share a love of our faith, TV crime dramas and cats, serving as “mom” and “dad” to Callie and Stash.

Diabetes has been a part of her life since she was 10 months old – and now it is a part of mine, too.

I have come to recognize the musical sound of her sensor and just nudge her in bed, lovingly saying: “Hon, you’re beeping.”

I am blessed to have married the strongest and most remarkable woman I have ever met. I was amazed at her ability to make the most of what life brought and not get too hung up on the small stuff. After all, Vicki and I were, and still are, in the prime of our lives. She is deeply passionate about living her life and raising our family including three children and a pugnacious puggle, Miss Lola.

I love quotes. I always have. I actually had a quote wall for some time. It was an oversized canvas that hung in my living room and every person that came over to visit needed to add their words of wisdom. It could have been a quote from someone famous, words that they live by, or advice that they would share with others. So it makes sense to me that I share my perspective along with one of my favorite quotes.

My name is Taalib al’Salaam and am dating a really wonderful, thoughtful, hardworking lady, Ellica Church. We met at a church service on July 4, 2010 and we have now been dating for over a year. What a wonderful woman she is - gracious, bright, witty and fun.

Soon after meeting my wife, Sarah, I noticed her little pager sticking out of her jeans pocket, though this one was different, because it had a small tube? She ultimately told me what her insulin pump was by telling me about a young girl’s curiosity about it -- the little one was in Sarah’s Girl Scout troop and had asked what it was. I really didn’t think a thing about it other than how incredible it was that the little green box took care of her.

At the time I was clueless about diabetes.

I have learned so much about diabetes since Brandy and I met back in 1996.  I was completely clueless when we met, even asking her, “Are you so important that you need a pager?”.  Little did I know at the time that it was her pancreas (insulin pump).  Brandy’s outlook on having diabetes has always been positive from the moment that I met her, so I never saw it as an obstacle in our relationship.

My experience having a wife with type 1 diabetes is not so different from any other marriage, with the exception of having a complicated, treacherous side kick along for the ride.  My wife, Anna, was upfront with me regarding her type 1 diabetes from early on in our relationship. I realized right away what a burden it is to tell a boyfriend that you have a serious, life altering issue, knowing full well that it might scare off a lot of guys.