Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Can you say Wow!


The other day I was on Facebook, no that is not the "wow" factor".  Anyways, I was on Facebook and noticed that someone had posted a request to know if people were planning a special green meal for St. Patrick's Day on the 17th.  Again, no big deal normally about people celebrating St. Patty's Day.  Its not a day that I celebrate but it is a date that sticks in my head.

The 17th of March is a day that I think about every day.  Its a day that I obsess about each year.  Its the day that my world changed completely. Its a day that I found my focus and entered a world that I knew nothing about. Its the day that changed the life of my entire family forever.  

So you get the idea that I am a little obsessed by this day. This year the day was especially important because it will be 10 years since diabetes came into our lives.  Ten years ago on that date I did not know if my child would live or die.  Ten years ago on that date I would spend a lot of my time praying and willing my son to live. After March 17th, ten years ago,  I would began a journey to learn everything I could about Type 1 diabetes. 

Imagine then how shocked I was when I realized with that post, that I had NOT thought about that date.  I was not waiting for it to happen. I was not planning my memoirs for that day or any other event to mark it.  I was instead focused on a date later in the month.  I was obsessed with my other son turning 16.  How could that be happening?? I am way too young to have a 16 year old child! How did that little baby grow up so quickly? How could my little boy be old enough to drive in March of 2010? I was obsessed with having a child old enough to be legally allowed to drive.  How would I handle my "child" driving my vehicle? I am too young to have a child driving. I must have been like 12 when he was born! 

I was actually very happy to realize that the theme that I had created for the month of March, I was beginning to live.  I had decided that the first 10 years with diabetes were about survival, learning to cope and staying healthy.  The next 10 years and then some would be spent celebrating.  My son is alive. He is healthy and diabetes is part of our lives.  It is a huge part of mine as I help others with the disease.  It is just an annoying but necessary part of his.  It is no longer the sole focus of our lives however.  There were other bigger milestones that eclipsed diabetes and that truly was a huge and wonderful WOW! in my life. 

No comments:

Post a Comment