6-Month Anniversary with Diabetes: Letters

Dearest Diabetes,

Like any new relationship, the journey to get to know you has been an interesting one. I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know how we would get along. Finally, I didn't know if things would be deceptively easy. You are compared to marriage, in a sense. Marriage has a "honeymoon phase" in which a couple is still fueled by newfound love and commitment, oblivious to the realities of making a marriage work. You offer a similar situation. Sometimes you are much easier to manage because you are having some assistance from my pancreas' continued insulin production. In marriage, the honeymoon eventually subsides, and the relationship is nurtured now by how we handle life's challenges. Dearest Diabetes, we, too, may leave this honeymoon one day. You may take me on a journey riddled with unexpected challenges, but our commitment to each other can carry us through anything.

Maybe the next phase for us will be more like that of mother and child. Instead of cooperating with one another, you will be completely at my mercy. It will be up to me to nurture, protect, and control you. You will offer me potential rebellion, and I will have to adapt and re-adapt to that reality. With time, we will eventually learn to work cooperatively again. We will meet new challenges.

Dearest Diabetes, I never would have chosen for you to come into my life. In fact, you invaded like a thief in the night. Now, you feel like the roommate that won't leave. To have and to hold. Til death do us part. You aren't like marriage in all aspects. I cannot divorce you. Of course, I always hope divorce is a last resort for anyone, but in our case, Diabetes...I'd have quit you yesterday if I knew how. You see, the goal in marriage is forever. The goal in Diabetes is an amicable divorce.

I'll continue to write you as the milestones mount. I wasn't happy to meet you, and now you're just a tough pill to swallow...quite literally.

Best,
Jordan