Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The Cotton Candy Experience

“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.” 

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.”
― Ruth Reichl
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I came home from Roche Summit last night and I have so much information and many experiences to process - And honestly guys, I can't wait to share them with you! 
 But until I get the chance to actually gather my thoughts into a coherent post, I thought I'd share something else from the Summit with you.
Dr. Jen Dyer, a.k.a., Endo Goddess filmed the following video of me trying cotton candy for the first time in my life on Monday night at the Indianapolis Indians (Indy's Minor League Base Ball team) game and I'm so grateful that she did!
THANKS @EndoGoddess!!  
Those of us at the Roche Summit attended the game and had the opportunity to hangout, watch the game and actually eat everything one actually eats at a base game. Hots, hamburgers, cornbread, cookies & cotton candy - And nobody judged anyone. 

Here's the thing, growing up with diabetes I was never actually allowed to eat cotton candy.
My parents thought that spun sugar was not something a child with diabetes should be eating, so I never had it. 
Over the years all my type 3 friends were always amazed that I'd never tried it. 
Between you and me, it didn't really bother me because every time I saw cotton candy, I thought of fiber glass and never really wanted to try it. 
But when Marlene from Roche came around with a giant bag filled with bags of cotton candy at the game for everyone in attendance - I couldn't resist. 
And the fact that I had the opportunity to try it with people who actually "got" where I was coming from re: the situation  and were  excited for me to check cotton candy of my "bucket list" made me really want to try it. 

So here I go....... 


"Kelly's Cotton Candy Experience: An Endo Goddess Production 
With A special appearance by Mr. Mike Lawson!

Verdict: Honestly, I wasn't impressed by it. 
Cotton candy has a really weird texture and it's ridiculously sweet. I guess I thought it would be more like icing - It's totally not.

But the fact that I was surrounded by my Diabetes On-line Community friends who were just as excited by the fact that I was actually trying it for the first time was SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME. And now my cotton candy experience is one of those happy/funny moments in my life that I will never forget. 
And I decided to share it with my other Diabetes On-line Community friends who weren't there in real life, because I figured that all of us living with diabetes have had those things that we never were "allowed" to try  because of our diabetes. 
And when we finally do (and whether we end up liking them or not,) it becomes a defining moment in the sense that we actually can try it- Especially when no one judges us for it or tells us we shouldn't! 

So do you have an equivlent to the "Cotton Candy Experience" and if so, please feel free to share if you want!! 

7 comments:

Jackie said...

Cotton candy = Splenda from the bag. Don't judge :P But that's exactly what it tastes like.
A friend of mine with D had never had a Pixy Stick before and we were out and about and another friend had some. She mentioned it and I told her she needed to try it; she'd been having a rough week and said it wasn't worth it. So I did it with her and now she's hooked. We had to 'hide the evidence' before we got back... Such silliness.

Denise aka Mom of Bean said...

You are in good company...Bean had some cotton candy at a friend's house the other day and she came and gave it to me after one bite because she didn't like it! ;)

LOVE that you tried it, though!!

Penny said...

Love the video - so darling of you trying it!

Lizmari said...

I think cotton candy is one of those foods that tasted better to us as kids, than as adults. There's quite a few I tried again, as an adult, and was sorely disappointed. lol (Though relieved I won't be tempted by it. heh) Nevertheless, I am happy you got to try it... with friends. :) And in many ways, I think that's the actual fun of cotton candy -- being with a bunch of friends, having fun, at some place... not the cotton candy itself. :D

Unknown said...

Ella's going to have cotton candy for the first time since diagnosis on Saturday! I figure it's at a birthday party so I'll sugar her up and let her run it off!

Cara said...

I'm so glad I was there to see it! :)

Kim said...

HOW DID I MISS THIS? I wondered where all of the cotton candy came from! Ha! I'm glad you've had the experience, now. :)