When my son Brad was young, there was one question he asked me so many times that if I had a penny for every time, I could buy myself a castle in Scotland, move there and never work another day in my life. OK ... so that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but he asked me that particular question all ... the ... flipping ... time. And get this, not one of those times when Brad asked me the question did I know the answer ... not a single time. Not knowing the answer to Bradley's question had nothing to do with how smart or not smart I am ... it had everything to do with the only correct answer to the question being in Brad's mind and only his mind. The question? "Hey, Mom ... guess what?" Ummm ... guess what about what? Guess what day it is? Guess what color underwear I have on? Guess what time I woke up this morning? Guess who my favorite teacher is? Guess what I ate for lunch? Guess what happened to the lawn mower? Guess how much money is in my pocket? I rest my case ... the only correct answer to Brad's incessant, "Hey, Mom ... guess what?" was in my young son's always creative, always looking for a story, always thinking mind.
I am tired to the bone tonight ... another side effect of my new medicine ... so I'm going to do something in tonight's post that I've been thinking about for several months. I've always received a fair amount of messages about my posts, but since "the post" at the first of the year, I'm bombarded with emails and Facebook messages ... some nice and some not, some serious and some funny. One thing that is fairly consistent in both the positive and negative comments, however, is that most of them contain questions. I've been keeping track of some of the questions, and I've noticed certain questions that pop up time and time again. As I said, I've been thinking about writing this post for a while now, and tonight just feels like the right time to begin ... yes, begin ... answering some of the questions I'm repeatedly asked. The reason I say I will begin answering the questions is twofold ... 1) there are a lot of questions I've logged into the question folder, and 2) I think I may write a Q&A post every now and again because I think I should answer some of the questions you ask. So, here we go ...
1) How is your relationship with your children now?
I can only answer that question from my own heart ... I suppose that in order to get a fully accurate response to the status of my relationship with my children, you would have to ask them how they feel as well. But, for me, I think my relationship with my kids is better than it's ever been, if for no other reason than there is a level of honesty between us now that was never present before. I'm more relaxed when I'm with my children because I'm not expending a ton of energy trying to maintain my "cover," and they are more relaxed as well. I'm their mom, and that's really all that matters to my children ... they don't see me as their gay mom, they see me as their mom and they love me. Do we talk about who I am? Sometimes, yes, and sometimes those conversations are difficult, but that isn't what defines my relationship with my children ... it never has, and I don't think it ever will.
2) Are you going to write another book that tells your story of the last couple of years?
I'm working on it ... it's a hard book to write.
3) You don't write much about diabetes anymore, how's your physical health in regard to diabetes? Are you cured since you lost all the weight?
My last A1c was a couple of months ago, and it was a near-perfect 5.1. Other than the stuff going on with my gut from the new medication, I feel pretty well physically. Every once in a while, I'll have a low blood sugar episode, but I was finally able to recognize some warning signs and know to guzzle some juice or eat some peanut butter right away. It's a common misconception that diabetes can be "cured" ... I will always have diabetes. I can control it with diet, exercise and medication (I will always be on medication), but I will never be cured, unless, of course, medical science finds a cure one day.
4) Are you dating or in a relationship?
Nope and nope. (And this question is by far the most frequently asked of all the questions.)
5) What's your favorite kind of ice cream?
Post-diabetes: no sugar-added vanilla with sugar-free chocolate syrup drizzled on top.
Pre-diabetes: chocolate chip cookie dough with caramel syrup ... lots and lots and lots of caramel syrup.
That's it for tonight ... sleep well, friends, and take care of each other. Really ... take care of each other ... love each other ... be kind to each other ... really.
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