For Our Families and Ourselves

It’s day two of Diabetes Blog Week and the prompt for today is as follows:

Recently various petitions have been circulating the Diabetes Online Community, so today let’s pretend to write our own. Tell us who you would write the petition to – a person, an organization, even an object (animate or inanimate) – get creative!! What are you trying to change and what have you experienced that makes you want this change?

My response is based on something that I wrote last April during the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge.  I’ve included the text from that post below.  My petition follows that.

There’s More to Life
When living with chronic health issues that require constant attention, it is easy to become so consumed by those thoughts that we lose sight of the fact that there’s more to life that just those health issues. Sure, they are always with us, but they should not be the center of attention all the time.

I much prefer to devote my time and attention to the people and things in my life that are the most important to me. Like April and the time we get to spend together.

For the past few years, April has talked about the idea spending a day at a local park, just lying under a tree and enjoying being out in the beautiful weather. Maybe take the camera along and take pictures of the blossoms on some of the trees. For one reason or another, though, that never happened. Well, not until last Sunday afternoon, anyway.

The idea came up in conversation that morning and since the weather was beautiful that day, we decided to jump at the opportunity to go. So, we grabbed a blanket, our cameras, and a sandwich to share from Subway, and went to the park for an impromptu picnic. As you can see, we found a nice place on a hill beneath a couple of trees to pitch our blanket.

Oh sure, I checked my blood sugar and took my dinner time injection of Byetta before I started eating, but as soon as that was out of the way, my diabetes was pushed to the back burner and my attention returned to what was really important at the moment, April and our time together.

We had our meal and spent a while just laying on the blanket, taking in the view of our surroundings. And before we left the park, we took pictures of the blossoms on the trees and managed to snap some shots of each other in the process. It was a lot of fun.

It’s so important to remember that our loved ones also endure a lot of grief because of the health issues with which we are diagnosed. I’m quite thankful that I’ve had April by my side through my battle with congestive heart failure. I know that it has been every bit as scary for her as it has me. And, like all spouses of PWDs, April has dealt with the crap that goes along with that role, too. The highs, the lows, and the god awful mood swings, too.

So, anytime there’s an opportunity to do something fun that allows us to think beyond those other things, we jump on it. And we do our best to enjoy every minute we have during those times.

April finally got the day in the park that she’s wanted for so long and I got a souvenir of that day.

My new favorite photo of her.

The Pledge

We, the undersigned, acknowledge and understand that we, as PWD’s, are not the only people affected by the disease with which we have been diagnosed.  That our loved ones endure the struggles of this diagnosis along side us.   We pledge to remember this, to show appreciation for their support, and to support them in return.

We, the undersigned acknowledge and understand that there is much more to life than diabetes and that it is important to take every opportunity to enjoy life in the moment.  We pledge to stop and smell the roses and make memories, like the one above, as often as possible.

We, the undersigned, pledge to always remember the importance of making time for our families, and for ourselves.

Signed,

Mike Durbin. (And hopefully everyone who reads this. 🙂 )