Admiring Our Differences

It's that time of year again.  You may recall from 2010 that a phenomenon known as Diabetes Blog Week sweeped across this community, with dozens of bloggers giving their own spins on a single topic. We have a prompt for every day of the week, thanks to D-Blog Week creator Karen over at Bitter-Sweet Diabetes. You can find all those participants listed over there.

Today's Topic: Admiring our differences  -

We are all diabetes bloggers, but we come from many different perspectives. So, what have we learned from those diagnosed at different ages or with another type of diabetes, or those D-Parents who might be considered heroes? Pick a type of blogger who's looking at The D from a different perspective tell why they inspire you, why you admire them, or why it’s great that we are all the same but different.

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 I'd hoped for some originality here, but that just isn't how I'm gonna roll for this initial topic. Back in November, one of the most eye-opening experiences I've had came at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis when I was able to actually walk briefly in the shoes of a D-Parent - albeit it very briefly. That sparked this post, dubbed Penguins, Polar Bears, and Superheroes. That post is where I return to now for today's topic, and part of what I'd written then seems particularly relevant now to describe how and why I admire these D-Parents so much:

"What I faced was just a few brief moments of what these Parents of Children With Diabetes face every day, every night. every moment. Regardless of my own experiences growing up with and living as an adult with Type 1, that doesn't replace the simple reality that I don't know what it's like to be a caregiver to a child - especially a CWD. You think it requires ninja-skills to manage your own D-Life? Well, try being responsible for that from the outside, with the normal parental cares and concerns amplified by this chronic condition's necessities, and having to teach this little one how to grow up to have a successful life with diabetes. Not easy by any means. I'd known that before, but see it even more clearly now. These Parents Acting Like Pancreases are superheroes. We could recognize them every moment of every day, and they'd still be under-appreciated. So, to every Parent Who Acts Like A Pancreas: Thank you, so incredibly much. For everything. We Children With Diabetes Who Grew Up are who are because of your care, your guidance, your balancing those daily issues in whatever way you did."


I promise to be original for Tuesday's topic, which will be: Diabetes Letter to... (Catch you tomorrow, when you'll see who that letter goes to!)