"Chi, Chi, Chi, CHIABETIC"

Fantastical friends

So I was having drinks with one of my best and fantastical friends, Mark H on a night not so very long ago.

Back-story: Mark and I met on the first day of 6^th grade (our desks faced one another) and we’ve been friends ever since. We went to middle school, high school (yes, he was my Jr. Prom date) and college.

Mark knows everything about me - the good, the bad, & the diabetesalicousness of it all. He’s been with me through all the triumphs and the tears, and he loves me no matter what.

And I will love him for as long as I live.

I couldn’t ask for a better friend. And before you ask why don’t we get married, Mark has a fantastic partner named Ron who I love and adore!

And honestly, I've never looked at him in that way - THANK GOD!

No, I love Mark, but I'm not "in love" with Mark.

Anyway, over drinks (Mark was drinking a dirty martini & I was nursing a Bloody Mary) we were talking about my blog, life with diabetes, and growing up with diabetes.

Mark is one of my memory keepers. He remembers me as the 6^th grader with diabetes, the teenager with diabetes who had her share of issues, and the college student with diabetes who fought hard to be perceived as normal.

Mark had patience with my sister Debbie, especially when mine ran out. He’d make her laugh, include her in moments that I was being selfish about, and in the end, he loaded up her wheelchair to the local mall and the two of them got in all sorts of trouble.

When Debbie died, Mark spent the whole day & night of her funeral with me. He and the rest of my friends took me to a bar and we all cried, laughed, & requested & sang songs in her honor.

Free drinks for our group were lining up at the bar and it was long night for all of us.

Afterwards, Mark took me home and watched me as I slept. The next morning I woke up with a stale 1/2 of PB&J next to me, because Mark was afraid my blood sugar would go low in the middle of the night.

A few weeks later, Mark booked and paid for a spring break trip for us to Cancun.

“You can pay me later – you need a vacation.” And he was right, I did – we both did.

Nowadays, Mark is a mover and shaker in NYC, & he’s still one of my best friends.

The other night as we sat at the bar, eating apps, having drinks and talking about life, I was once again reminded of what a wonderful friend I had in him.

But before I could get all sappy, Mark said the following:

Mark: One of the things I love about your blog is that you have the perspective of growing up as a chiabetic, which I think…

Me: Chiabetic??!! Child + diabetic = chiabetic - I LOVE THAT MARK!!!

And then I started singing the theme to the chia-pet commercial except I sang: Chi, chi, chi, chiabetic!"

Mark: What? I meant to say child diabetic.

Me: CHIABETIC IS GREAT AND I’M TOTALLY STEALING IT!

Mark: Go for kitten- it’s yours!

And so I did~

Thanks Marky!