January, 2006:

 Meet Jessi. She looks like a regular seven-year-old girl. But she is far from being a regular girl. Jessi was selected in the November 2005 issue of Ohio Magazine as an Ohio Hero.

Meet the author Tatiana Zunshine. Her children's book A Little Story About a Big Turnip (illustrated by Evgeny Antonenkov; Pumpkin House, April 2004) has become little Jessi's mantra. She is carrying it with her. Having been diagnosed with the type 1 diabetes from the age of two, Jessi has applied the lessons from the Turnip story to her battle with diabetes.

In the story the grandfather has planted a turnip seed in his backyard. When the time came to harvest the turnip the grandfather couldn't do it by himself because the turnip grew to be absolutely enormous. So, he solicits the help from his entire family - first the grandmother, then the granddaughter, then the dog, then the cat, then the mouse. As the little mouse comes to the scene, and everybody once again start pulling together, the giant turnip pops out of the ground.

Jessi has taken the message she learned from Tatiana Zunshine's book all over Ohio. She and her mom Debi have become loud voices in favor of the passing of Ohio Diabetes Cost Reduction Act. Last year, together with a group of diabetes advocates, they went to Ohio Governor's office to speak with officials regarding the Diabetes Cost Reduction Act. Jessi carried along the Turnip book. Given an opportunity, she has read the book to the Governor's senior health advisor.

After reading the book, Jessi explained the moral of the story by saying: "I learned that it doesn't matter how big or little you are, what I think matters is what you are willing to do that makes the difference." She told Governor's adviser, "it takes everyone, including the Governor." She said, "If everyone works together we can accomplish great things. I also learned that the one thing more powerful than each of us, is all of us together." The little seven-year-old hero touched the hearts of many people and set an example of what can be accomplished if everyone "pulls" together and speaks up regarding the Diabetes Cost Reduction Act. She said, “I want to make things better for all of us.”

Jessi's mom has contacted the author of the book A Little Story About a Big Turnip, Tatiana Zunshine, with the request to meet Jessi and sign her copy of the book. Tatiana feels honored to have met Jessi, and they remain in touch.