Monday, April 25, 2011

Twenty Five Years With Diabetes.

Saturday* was my silver anniversary with this roommate of mine -
And you'd better believe I celebrated: with family, friends, cupcakes and wine**.

A quarter century of blood draws, finger sticks and shots;
Six of those wearing gear, just like the robots.

We've done a lot together; diabetes and I...
And I feel quite old knowing this many years have gone by.

Childhood summers filled with art classes, bike rides and softball.
We went to all-day music festivals as teenagers - unrefrigerated insulin? Bad call.

Double-digit A1C's. Hours of blood testing, we did without.
And because of that, we had an eyebrow piercing that totally grew out. 

International travel. Half marathons. In front of politicians we've sat.
Diabetes and I; we've done all of that.

I used to want to hide it. Diabetes existed in stealth.
And now? It's weird - I'm telling the whole world about my health.

But the weirdest thing, about sharing so much here?
Is that it actually doesn't feel that weird. It isn't always something to fear.

Because the greatest gift diabetes has given me (when thinking of it positively)
Is the friends I have in all of you - this wonderful diabetes community.

Thanks to you guys - for all you've done.
You've shown me that parts of life with diabetes can be kind of FUN.

So this is it - the big two five.
Celebrating resilience, a bit of luck, and being healthy and alive.


Why yes, that is a giant clipboard with a winner's bracket I drew.
And yes, we played You Don't Know Jack (really wanted to call it
The You Don't Know Jacket, but Aaron voted "Um, no."). And yes, we
then played Rock Band until 3:00 in the morning. And yes, I may have
totally dominated drums and singing-ish. Is there
another way to celebrate a 25th diaversary?
Thanks so much to my friend Natalie for making the
awesomely good cupcakes - with my favorite color, even!



*The overwhelming amount of well wishes and congratulations on Facebook and Twitter this weekend was much appreciated! You guys helped make the milestone even sweeter. (Pun totally intended.)

**Wine, and its consumption, not pictured. Because there are some things The Internet just doesn't need to know.

8 comments:

  1. Kim -
    I'm so happy that you celebrated all the wonderfulness that is you and your life - You have so much to be proud of!
    Thank you for sharing your life with us, making us laugh, and making us learn!
    The DOC has introduced me to so many fantastical friends and I'm proud, blessed and honored to call you my friend!
    YOU ROCK!
    Kelly K

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  2. Ok. This is awesome. Seriously. That clipboard, and so eloquently-named You Don't Know Jack with infused goodness just ROCKS! The poem... simply outstanding. So great that you had such a good fun time with family and friends, and congrats on reaching the Silver Diaversary Status, Kim! As K2 said, thank you so much for sharing your D-Life with all of us and bringing such a fun, humorous, and insightful perspective to everything. I'm, too, proud to know you!

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  3. Happy Diaversary from Sweetpea and me!! So happy you are here telling your story! Congrats on kickin ass for 25 years! I love the cupcakes!!

    Sweets will celebrate 2 years on Wednesday. We are also planning on cupcakes and we are going to a bounce house with friends. Crazy? Maybe. But that's how we roll. It's HER day! HER choice!!

    Love this post and love YOU!!

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  4. Congrats!! Way to keep it up! It looks like you had a blast! I want to have a party for my anniversary coming up next month too!

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  5. Here's to you! :) Those cupcakes look AWESOME, btw.

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  6. What a great poem and a fantastic celebration!!! :)

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  7. so now you're eligible for the Lilly bronze medal: http://www.lillydiabetes.com/Pages/journey-awards.aspx...woo to the hoo. i could have gotten mine in october 2002, but then i'm not managing anything and since 2003 w/o job & 2004 w/o health insurance, that's not likely to change.

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  8. So so so LATE I am, but still wanted to wish you a happy belated diabetes anniversary. 25 years of kicking ass and taking shots. :-)

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