Thursday, April 21, 2011

Why It's Personal

We've been talking lately about why transportation is personal. It's certainly something we use each day - but how much thought have you given to how it would, in fact, personally affect YOUR life? What would be different, and how would your routine change if your connections to work, home and activities just weren't what you needed?

MoDOT employee, Tina Thurman, shares today how transportation is indeed personal to her and affects her family:

“My son Garrett will start kindergarten this fall. As a preschooler, he was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes (Type I). Because his body does not produce any insulin, we have to monitor his blood sugar and inject the hormone several times a day.

There is no such thing as homemade insulin. I can't make testing supplies or needles. I rely on shipments from far away factories that travel by train and highway to reach my mailbox. And it's not just that the packages arrive, they have to arrive when I need them.

If shipping channels are interrupted, it causes a delay in delivery. I can deal with shortages of gas, bread and milk. Insulin is another story. My brown-eyed live-wire can't live without a safe, reliable transportation system.

For our family, transportation is more than personal. It's a matter of life and death.”

How is transportation personal to you? Please share your story here on the blog, or on our facebook page, and tell us what would change for you if your connections were in jeopardy. For more information on how transportation is personal in Missouri, visit www.modot.org/itspersonal.