Thankful

I think this is the first Thanksgiving Day that I haven’t seen my parents.  Don’t feel bad for me, I just spent 5 days in Michigan with my parents and my sister and her family.  We had some stuff going on that required schedule adjustments, so we did our “Apfelgiving” together last Saturday.  While I was driving from Kalamazoo back to Cleveland yesterday I had some time to think and that led to this post.  I’m thankful for so many things.

First and foremost I’m thankful that as I approach my 47^th birthday, the parents my sister and I used to call the “old parents” are still with us.  While we can still all frustrate each other, we’re lucky to have each other and that we can always come together on important days.  You think you’re funny when you're a kid and say you have the “old” parents because they’re in their forties and your friends’ parents are in their thirties…it’s a gift when you realize your "old" folks have outlived a lot of those peers.

I’m thankful that my sister and I can spend our adult lives hundreds of miles apart, see each other a few times a year and still have a pretty cool bond.  We were a team as kids and when it needs to happen we’re still that team today.  I’m thankful that even as he becomes a sometimes stereotypical teenager, my 13 year old nephew still wants me to play video games with him.  And I’m thankful that while he used to lay his head on my shoulder, now when I lay my head on his shoulder the man-child lays his head on top of mine.

Since my blog is about Type 1 diabetes, I can’t leave that off the list.  I’m not grateful I have Type 1, I’d obviously rather take a pass on that.  But I’m thankful that I got it instead of it hitting anyone I know.  I’m thankful I live in a time and place where insulin exists and that I have the access, insurance coverage and finances that make it easy to get everything I need to stay alive.  I’m grateful that it eventually stopped making me insane and became a (mostly) seamless part of everyday life.

I’m thankful that I’m healthy, even though I’m “sick.”  I’m thankful for the 3 crazy friends who are willing to follow my Dexcom and check on me when my sugar is low, including the text and phone call that jolted me just after 3:30 this morning.  It’s an incredible gift that you’re all willing to lose sleep to make sure I wake up.  I’m thankful to have a friend who was with me the day I was diagnosed, who carries glucose in case I run out, who learned how to stab me and check my blood sugar when I can’t, and who wants to learn how to inject insulin in case I’m in the hospital one day and can’t do it myself.  But to be honest…she’ll never read this far because my blog posts have too many words for her liking. J 

Because of our schedule adjustment this week, I’m watching the Lions Thanksgiving game for the first time in a long time instead of listening in the car on the way to see my family.  I’m not sure if I’ll be too thankful about that later!  I’m 100% looking forward to seeing the Michigan vs. Ohio State game for the first time since they moved the game back a week, since I’m usually enjoying family time instead.  Go Blue!  And since it’s the little things that really matter most in life, I’m thankful that my dad hooked me up with my favorite breakfast on earth for the second time since T1D landed in our world.  His French Toast, made with my mom’s homemade Challah and topped with her homemade raspberry jam...it's breakfast perfection.  I had the leftovers here at home for Thanksgiving.  Smucker's sugar free raspberry is nowhere near the real thing, but it was still a great start to the day.

Enjoy the holiday and your families and friends.  I don’t say it often enough - thank you for reading.  I’m so grateful for all of you following along.