NORMA PAUL ADKINS HOFFMAN
1937-2003

Even as a child, Norma's zeal for life was apparent. Her mother, Vivian Paul, told many stories over the years about the challenges of raising such a precocious child. While her sister, Nina, sat quietly and played with her dolls, Norma would beg for her next lesson in cooking, sewing, driving... anything that represented activity and challenge.

She married her high school sweetheart, Donald Adkins. They were quite the pair at Vine Grove High School; him in his basketball uniform and she in her cheerleader uniform. Then along came three girls, Dana, Alison and Melissa, lovingly referred to as the DAM Adkins kids. Why? One Christmas Norma made stockings for the girls but she didn't have enough glitter to write out each name individually. Instead, she simply put each girls initial on their stocking. In walked Granny who took one look at the stockings hanging on the mantle and proclaimed, "Well I'll be darned, those must belong to the D...A...M... Adkins kids". A family joke was born.

Many years of softball games, bicycle rodeos, holiday celebrations, proms and wedding went by. And then the joy of grandchildren. Eric, Meagan, Ryan, Liz, Andrew and Tara. Norma loved each one of her grandchildren equally but little did she know that she would ultimately have the challenge (and blessing) of raising one of those grandchildren whose precociousness made Norma's look mild in comparison: Eric.

A true love affair began. Norma loved Eric with a fierceness that had no comparison. She was committed to raising him "right" which included unlimited spoiling and half-hearted discipline. She rocked him to sleep at night and never missed a band competition. She was such a fixture in his life that even his friends called her "Mammaw".

When Donnie passed away in 1988, Eric became her whole life. But the love between Norma and Eric was mutual and unwavering. When Norma was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1990 it was Eric that watched out for her. He was still just a kid but learned quick how to recognize signs of low blood sugar. It was Eric that called 911 the day her blood sugar zeroed out on the way home from church. And it was Eric that held her in his arms as she took her last breath on April 29, 2003.

You see it was diabetes that ultimately claimed the life of Norma. She didn't like the disease and it didn't like her. Yes, she did what she had to do; taking insulin each day, but the medical society's understanding of the disease and therefore her education of the long-term effects of sustained high blood sugar left her at high risk. She didn't understand (nor did the rest of her family) that the neuropathy, heart disease and retina damage all were a result of the disease managing her.

She died in 2003 as a result of complications of open heart surgery. Her blocked arteries and leaky valve were the toll diabetes took on her body.

In 2005, Ryan, Norma's third grandchild, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 22. The 216 Foundation has been organized to save her grandson from the same disease that claimed her life.