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Rusty's Ramblings - September

Published:
1-October-2005

Some People Just Don't Get It!

This past month my girls and I spent some time in the great southwest. All of my mother's family lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although I'm a born and bred Yankee, I lived out there for a while in the 80's. It was the best time of my life even though salt water is hard to come by out there. Any water for that matter.

There are a whole slew of aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, second cousins once removed, and first cousins that should have been removed a long time ago. It was the first time, other than my cousin Sandy (read my book "So Your Child Has Diabetes") that any of this part of my family had ever met my girls. Now they have been aware that Kari has diabetes right along. What I never realized was that diabetes is as foreign to them as green chili's and tortillas are to people in New England.

We arrived at my Aunt Marjorie and Uncle Al's house after a long flight to find a house full of sugar-free, low-carb, no taste, couldn't choke-it-down-if-you-were-starving yuck! The bane of a diabetic's life, well intentioned loved ones that don't have a clue. Kari was horrified, Kristin was fit to be tied, and I looked at Sandy like huh? He has been around Kari off and on since the diagnosis. He is familiar enough with her care that I have no problem with him watching her if I have to go out. I caught up with him after all of the greetings and hugs and asked him what happened? He sheepishly said"I tried to tell them but they wouldn't listen". My folks are throwbacks to the"sugar diabetes" era.

We all sat down to that first welcome dinner. It was awful. Everybody was laughing and talking while trying to push their food around on their plates to make it look like they were actually eating this stuff. The people who actually did get any in their mouths were wishing they had hadn't. Needless to say there were plenty of leftovers and like troopers the clean-up crew put them in containers and stuck them in the back of the refrigerator. After dinner, Sandy, my girls, and I then went for a ride. Straight to the nearest Lottaburger for cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes. We had a pretty good laugh at the family's expense but were left with a dilemma. How do we let everyone know that all the stuff they bought not only wasn't necessary but really wasn't good for her. She needs some carbs for crying out loud. We wiped all of the telltale milkshake mustaches off our faces and headed back to the house. When we got back I noticed some of my cousins were fatter than when we left. It seems that we weren't the only ones to take a ride after dinner.

That settled it for me. I was going to explain that Kari could eat anything she wanted. She wasn't on a restricted diet and all of that"special food" wasn't necessary. After everyone left I sat down with my aunt and uncle and explained everything to them. I explained what type 1 diabetes was and how Kari's insulin pump worked sort of like a mechanical pancreas. I left out the Lottaburger part. My uncle was so relieved I thought he was going to kiss me right on the lips. My aunt on the other hand was at first disbelieving, then skeptical and finally broken hearted. As she gathered all of this inedible food up and began to put it away I could hear her muttering something about saving it for when uncle Oscar came to visit. At least he was doing Atkins.

The rest of the trip was terrific with lots of sightseeing, visiting family, and some truly memorable meals. Kari and Kristin were so much more charming than when we are at home and my family all fell in love with them. Everyone was sorry to see the day come when my girls and I had to leave. Everyone that is except my Aunt Marjorie, she loved my girls but I'm not sure she'll ever forgive me. I'm just glad I'll be 2500 miles away on Columbus Day when she finds all of those leftovers.

Yuck,
Rusty