What I Remember

For some reason, as a kid I remember Diabetes as a rare thing. And a bit of a mystery. Some people were apparently born with it, and some developed it later in life. But why? Nobody knew. (Does anyone know now? We all talk about the genetic link, but that explanation seems almost too simple.)

My grandmother on Dad's side of the family was apparently a lifelong diabetic. She took insulin every day, and it was quite an ordeal. Injections given at certain times to coincide with meals. She had help from my grandfather. This was in the early 70's. I don't know how she tested her blood.

Dad never seemed too concerned about it "happening" to him. But of course he was born without it -- and probably figured he was "safe".

In Catholic elementary school, we had a girl in our class (first or second grade) who was given a special privilege by our teacher. While the rest of us had to get permission to leave the classroom and use a drinking fountain in the hallway, she was allowed to get a drink any time she wanted -- and she did. I've always wondered what condition she had to make her so thirsty. Could it have been Diabetes?

We had no diabetics on Mom's side of the family (as far as I know). But they must have been there, somewhere along the line. When she was diagnosed with Type 2, I'm not exactly sure. If it can be said that 50% of one's offspring are likely to contract it, that would true in our case (since my brother has it also, and that makes two out of four siblings).

For years, of course, as a caregiver, I dealt with people who listed Diabetes on their health history. I never gave it much thought, except to be sure we kept a ready sugar source in the office, for people to take if needed. (Only once in fourteen years did we have to give someone Coke to drink.)

I remember going into Gorants and seeing the sugar-free candy in its own special section of the store, for those few "unfortunates" who could not tolerate regular chocolate like the rest of us. I never really contemplated who they might be. But it was so small. "How awful for them," I thought. "Probably doesn't even taste right."

Never did I stop to consider that "sugar-free" might not necessarily mean "taste-free" or "pleasure-free". All I could think of at that time was the dry cocoa mix without sweetener that was sometimes used in baking. (Because I tried it once -- and it was bitter, let me tell you.)

But we never had the plethora of Diabetes related commercials back then, like we do now. No talk of 'Diabetes Care Club" when I was a kid. No exuberant white-hairs grinning happily about "alternative site testing". I don't recall anything about "Free Meters" or "Coding" either. (What does that mean, anyway?)

Since we heard so little about it, I tend to believe it was less common. But then, I don't recall as much talk about high cholesterol or erectile dysfunction, either. (And believe me, we used to watch a lot of TV. Three hours at least every night between supper and bedtime. But it was the whole family, together back then, in the same room. We only had three channels -- and we liked it.)

I also remember non-sugar type sweeteners, like Nutra-Sweet. For a while, it seemed to be in almost everything. (Whatever happened to that?)

There always seems to be at least one member of the household who makes statements like, "I can't eat anything but real sugar." In ours, it was the person who bought all the groceries (which just happened to be my mom!).

They used to say Kool-Aid was better for kids, because "You control the amount of sugar". In our house , whether we made Kool-Aid or Lemonade or anything involving powder added to water, it was always "the more sugar, the better".

I have happy memories of candy jars filled with M&M's, so you could pop them in your mouth, anytime day or night. (One candy I'd really love to see in sugar-free form, by the way.)

But now I'm reminiscing too much about the "good old days", when I could consume sugar with reckless abandon.

Hopefully, one day I'll remember something else, above all the rest: the moment I finally accepted my Diabetes as an inevitable part of my life's journey, and learned to live without regrets.

Guess I'm still working on that one.