Stolen Childhood

It almost sounds like it could be a name of a movie, doesn’t it?  In as much as I fully understand the fact that so many work so hard, oh so very hard, to make sure kids ‘get back out there’ into the world while managing their diabetes; and am also fully appreciative of the fact that we all do our absolute ‘damn-est’ to equal the playing field, the truth of the matter is we all live with our ‘stolen childhood’.

Well we really do not live with it, we sort of are observers to a freight train running at full speed and we do all we can to keep up with it.  I pride myself that in our house, our kids did everything everyone else did who did not live with diabetes.   We made sure they could achieve anything and everything growing-up.  From the outside world, our kids excelled in just about everything.  One would think that there was nothing different.  I am sure it is not much different in your house as well.

AND THAT, my dear friends is the difference in our world.   IT IS DIFFERENT.

Their lives were beyond different and in fact, we left different back at the gate a long time ago.  No one understands like a parent the hardship, the heartache, and the pain to MAKE SURE that our kids live a full life.  But nothing changes the fact that we DO NOT just go-to-bed at night.  We DO NOT ‘just’…..well….do anything since they were diagnosed.

In fact if you wrote down everything we had to do to make sure our kids ‘just got back out there’, one would take a step back from that list and state; no one could possibly do all that and stay sane.

Sane?

What does that even mean?  Because the simple truth is, on paper, no one could actually do what we do…..what our kids do.  The enormity of it is piled on so high that the stress would break any every day, run-of-the-mill, normal(?)  person.  Most would crack from the medical strain.  Most would crack from the pressure.  Most would crack knowing that at every turn, at any turn, it can all ‘go south’ to being a disaster.  Most……well…..could not do it.

But we do…….don’t we?

Because we are NOT most people.  We are parents to children who live with diabetes.  Some even have more than one child with this stupid disease and no matter what comes our way, no matter how many times we cannot continue, no matter how many times we JUST CANNOT wake up again in the middle of the night, no matter how many times we cannot shed one more tear, no matter how many times we can not give one more shot or change one more infusion set, no matter how many times we do everything we do……..we DO THAT one more time because we have to.

Because whoever decided that we would be given this lot-in-life; we have all decided that diabetes will just not do at winning in our household.  We will do everything and anything to fight, support, advocate, raise funds, and take care of our children.  We make that choice every day, every hour, and every second.

Because it’s so hard when fate/life becomes so cruel and we do all we can to fight having our kids’ stolen childhood……..and we will continue doing our damn-est with every ounce of fight we have.  Because we are parents, parents of kids who live with diabetes.

And I think we’re pretty special…….don’t you?

I am a diabetes dad.
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