Growing Comparison 

The grandparents at work were in town recently. It made for a much happier week where the smallest didn’t have to be driven all over creation for the other two’s activities. When I got there one morning, the grandfather said to me, “our granddaughter told us you have type 1 diabetes.” I was preparing myself for a “this friend has it and *insert horror story here*.” Instead, I heard, “my friend growing up had type 1 and she had to take shots; do you?” I overcame my surprise and then had an informative, yet brief, conversation about the differences in growing up with diabetes when I did compared to his peer. The diabetes community as I know it seems to grow every day. 

  
The next day the grandfather informed me that he has Type 2 Diabetes. He described the amount of attention his food consumption requires, his pills, and his pride in not needing insulin yet, but that that day is looming just around the corner, and his exercise regimen. We bonded over this small, but very in-your-face part of our lives.