Continuing as part of Diabetes Blog Week…
I've written about some of my diabetes heroes before, here and here. It's fun to look back on both of those posts – they were written in the first year after Benny's diagnosis.
It's been three years, now, and I have to say my biggest supporter is my husband, Slade. I hope I'm his. We are very much a team – and not just symbolically. Usually with a chronic condition like diabetes, one parent ends up taking the lead role. That's not the case for us. I'd like to say it's because we're such a modern-thinking, sensitive and caring couple. Truth is, it's because our schedules are crazy!
I work very early morning hours (I leave home at 4am) so he gets the kids every morning. Slade owns Rotelli, an Italian restaurant here in Charlotte, so often he's there in the evenings. Sometimes we even see each other.
How does he support me? My favorite is when I get an email or a text with "you're a machine!!" telling me about how I took care of this, that or the other. We also work hard to have a sense of humor and a realistic attitude about type 1 diabetes – and we try to talk to Benny about it in the same way. Slade also backs me up – and often leads the way when I'm frustrated.
Slade truly does the heavy lifting: Benny likes to be held upside down sometimes to change his inset. At 65 pounds and growing, he's getting just a little bit too big for me to do that. Okay I never did it – some things are just for dads!
(Slade & I show our support for JDRF at last year's Charlotte Gala. We may be as lit as those glow sticks!)