Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Good Times, Good People, Good Words, Good Tears~

Life ain't a track meet - It's a marathon.  - Ice Cube

Knowledge is in the end is based on acknowledgement~  Ludwig Wittgenstein

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I was playing catch-up with my sister on the phone Sunday night, we hadn’t talked in a few weeks and it was good to hear her voice. 
I was telling her about my last minute decision to attend the Isulindependence Philadelphia Weekend/Sports Symposium on Saturday & how I’d had a wonderful time & had learned a lot. I also mentioned how great it is to meet-up with old D friends in real life and to finally meet a few D friends I’d only previously only known online, and how inspiring being in a room full of diabetes sports-heads had been.  
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 I said to my sister: It’s hard to figure out the dynamics of working out and not having your blood sugar crash - And don’t even get me started on the whole weigh loss aspect of working out with diabetes, of diabetes with pretty much everything. It’s such a delicate scientific clusterfuck of a diabetes dance - And It’s hard. 
Hearing other PWDs who not only 'get it', but share my same frustrations made me feel so better about myself and my potential. And Cath, a lot of them were kickass endurance athletes! And the speakers at the conference had so much great info on how to handle diabetes when it comes to working out . 
The whole thing seriously inspired me to get back to my former BrickHouse Status. 

My Sister: I bet it did - I don’t know how you do it - How you juggle diabetes with everything - I give you and your friends so much credit for that.

My sister's my biggest fan and one of my strongest supporters - She’s always there for me and is always proud of me, but hearing her say those words make me choke up.
And then she said: And I’m so glad you have other people who understand what you go through when it comes to diabetes. I’m here for you, ALWAYS, but I’ll never know what it’s like to have diabetes - They do.  

And then my bro-in-law called my sister from the other room and apparently their dog (who's been having some major health issues,) got into the kitchen trash and most likely had eaten a bunch of things she shouldn’t have & my sister had to join him and figure out just how much potential gastrointestinal damage to the pup was done. 
So we said our goodbyes & our “I love you's" and hung up. 

I stared at the phone for a minute and then the tears started to fall down my cheeks.
Not sad tears, not joyful tears, but good tears. Tears of.... I don’t know... maybe tears of gratefulness for the acknowledgment & understanding. 
Anyway - It was a great end to a weekend that was chock full of good times, good friends, good words, good info and yes, good tears.

Also: If Insulindependence hosts a weekend in your neck of the woods, GO. 

I guarantee that you’ll learn a few things and meet a lot of awesome pwds in the process! 

2 comments:

StephenS said...

Kelly, last weekend was probably the closest Insulindependence will ever get to me, but I just couldn't make it. However, I'm REALLY glad you could, and I'm glad it was a great experience.

Mike Lawson said...

You're lucky you have her. :) And you're lucky to have us. (And of course we are luck to have you!)