36. Lessons I have learned from the strongest woman I have ever met: You can learn from a very young age how to manage diabetes, take your blood sugar, give yourself shots, (until your arms and legs wear out and you have to inject into your stomach) count carbs, and telling your mother that the sugar-free apple pie she made just for you at thanksgiving tastes great (when it is actually crap). You can raise a disabled child alone and be an awesome mother. You can move away, go back to college, just you and that child, and get your degree. You can meet the love of your life in your 40s. You can rise above breaking at least 5 different bones over 20 years. Somehow, you can still keep it together after the diabetes has rendered your stomach useless. You can deal for years of vomiting, hospital stays and two operations to install a gastric pace maker in Seattle. (that has yet to show it is working). You can miraculously come back to life after 2 hours of CPR and then successfully go through heart surgery. You can stay positive and even give your little sister a ton of crap while you are on Hospice.(and be very patient with her when she screws up taking your blood sugar) You can spend most of your day in a wheelchair but still want your sissy to do your nails and eyebrows. (A girl needs to feel pretty) You can break your hip, have pins put in, only for them to not work and then have to have a hip replacement....and still stay strong through more pain than most of us will ever know. You can still have a sense of humor...when most of us would have lost ours. Your strength can make you a hero in so many peoples eyes....I know because you are mine.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 22:26:30 +0000