Tuesday, November 27, 2012

What are D Moms made of?


We are a complicated concoction. 

D Moms are made of Glue:  We hold the entire family unit together.   Our children's challenges stick resolutely to us as we work to find solutions and wash away the unpleasant sticky residue of diabetes.

D Moms are made of Fire:  The bad blood sugar day our children had yesterday?  We burn it away into ash and begin the day anew.  Every day is the rebirth of new numbers.  The old worries are burned away and in its wake come new saplings of hope.

D Moms are made of Ice:  We can numb the pain...the sadness...with our love, our bear hugs and our empathy.

D Moms are made of owls:  At 2am we can see the smallest speck of blood in the darkness of our child's bedroom.   We are wise enough to make life saving decisions in the dead of night.  We bring food and drink to our child's cozy bedside nest to keep them safe.

D Moms are made of wind:  We are invisible as we check a blood sugar while our child watches their favorite show.  Other than the breeze from our departure, our presence is undetectable.

D Moms are made of crystal balls:  You ate that plate before I could see it?  70 carbs.

D Moms are made of dark chocolate:  We may have a bit of bitterness buried deep inside us, but the notes of smooth sweetness comes through more than anything else.  We are pretty comforting to have around.

D Moms are made of Cheetah: We are fast.  23 blood sugar?  We are up and to the snack cabinet before you can even blink.

D Moms are made of Diamonds: We shine through the hardest times.  We can stand insurmountable pressure.  That twinkle in our eyes when we look at you?  Nuff said.

D Moms are made of Bologna:  You know when our children are high with large ketones and we say, "No worries!"  We are really good at being calm and making you think that everything is ok, even when our insides look like an active pinball game.

D Moms are made of Bob the Builder:  Can we fix it?  YES WE CAN!

D Moms are made of encyclopedias:  Information?  We have retained it.  We are the go-to information source for our children's health.  We are the experts.  Yes...you can site that.

D Moms are made of butter:  We melt easily.  Give us those eyes and yeah...you can have that cupcake.

D Moms are made of steel:  We can be bent, dinged and manipulated...but we will not break.  We support the skyscraping circumstances with ease.  The world on our shoulders?  We can hold that.

D Moms are made of tears:  It is our breath of life.  Releasing the tears is the only way to keep the delicate balance within our complicated eco system of ingredients. 

D Moms are made of crock pots:  In the morning we cook up life by throwing together love, kindness, routine, determination and loyalty, and then letting it simmer all day long into a feast for our family by day's end.

D Moms are made of swords:  We live to conquer.  We were built to defeat what stands in our way.  Don't mess with a D Mom on a mission.  We will cut you.

D Moms are made of silver:  We may look frazzled and tarnished sometimes, but give us some TLC and we will shine so bright you'll need sun glasses to take us in.

Sure...we are complicated.  How can one exist by being fire and ice?  Butter and steel? 

It is a delicate balance...one not everyone can negotiate. 

That is why we were given this calling.

We are D Moms.

It is our job to make it work.

24 comments:

  1. And this masterpiece, my dear friend, is why YOU are one of the D MOMS I adore and couldn't imagine my life without!

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  2. I love you Meri Schuhmacher -- even if loving you does involve keeping track of all those H's in your name! This is rock solid. May I please anoint you leader of ALL the D-moms?
    Signed,
    Another D-Mom

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  3. ANNOINT. durn it, I DO know how to spell.

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  4. You're the top! Cream of the crop! Butter, steel, crockpots, tears! But out there somewhere are D-moms made of scabs, cigarettes, and assorted suppositories--I mean, there must be moms who are terrible at this. But we won't hear from them until their kids write the astonishing memoirs.

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  5. I love this...you have brought back so many memories...my son is now 23, lived thru college (as did I), and is now a contributing member of society, managing his daily health care as a trooper...this is so beautifully written...re-posted on my FB page as well: http://www.facebook.com/amy.shermanlilley?ref=tn_tnmn
    The very best to you and yours!

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  6. I feel like a whole new person after reading that....thanks...I am going out to conquer the world now!!

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  7. Wow, your blog is amazing. I am so fortunate not to have T-1D in my family, but came across your blog through a friend who does. You truly have such a gift to be able to write like this. I can see how much you inspire people, and I now include myself in that group. Thank you. I wish you and your boys all the very best.

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  8. Meri, you are one amazing writer! Love this post! THANK YOU

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  9. Wonderful post! D moms sure have to juggle! I'm just grateful to share this journey with other D moms.

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  10. nail head? yep, you hit it! :)

    someone needs to pay you boocoo bucks to write for them!

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  11. I can't decide which is my favorite, but I am bull of bologna... That is fo sho.

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  12. I just wanted to say thank you. I identify so much with your words, sometimes I think I am crazy, obsessed and overbearing. So do all the people around me..."what's the big deal? He'll be fine". Then I read one of your blogs and I know that I am okay. That we are okay. That it will all be okay. Even if its not. Thank you again

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  13. VERY well put Meri! We parents are all of those things and not just one of those. I wish I was as eloquent as you are with words.

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  14. I wish I had someone as awesome as you as my mom. I may still adopt you. I loved this post.

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  15. This is one of the most amazing posts I've read. Ever.

    Thank you, Meri. You are amazing.

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  16. Thanks for this encouraging post! My 15 year old was diagnosed a month shy of his 14th birthday. I'm a divorced mom of three (ages 13, 15, 17), and I homeschool them all. This past year was a huge and difficult adjustment, but we are back to relative peace and stability. It is so encouraging to read about other moms carrying the weight of the world, so to speak.
    I'm very thankful for the support we've had. Dr. Bruce Buckingham is our endo, and my son is in a study so we got the Medtronic pump right away! You can read my gratitude post about insulin here:
    http://www.susannasapron.com/2012/01/apprehending-gratitude.html#.ULllkoN9KSo

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  17. Hi there! Just discovered your blog as I am a brand new "D Mom" (my six-year old daughter was diagnosed last month). We are Americans living in Australia, so our D journey has been interesting as we travel through the Aussie system. You write beautifully and I had tears in my eyes with this post. Despite my brief tenure as a D Mom, I already can identify with so much of what you have written-- thank you!

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  18. Meri, you are so amazing & wonderful. I long to show up on your doorstep & beg you to adopt me. Except I'm too old to be your kid & I DO love my Mommy. Speaking of my Mommy, I need to call her right now. Technically, I was an adult when I was diagnosed but as I quickly learned, you are ALWAYS your mother's baby. She fits this description quite well. Even the middle of the night BG checks when I was too sick or too frazzled to care for myself.

    Thanks for reminding me how wonderful my Mommy really is. :)

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  19. Don't tell the others, but you may be my favorite D-Mom.

    I also loved reading the comments here from the other D-Moms - especially Moira and Katy :D

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  20. I teared up. Everything you wrote is so true! I couldn't have said it better. Thanks for this ;-)

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  21. Meri, words fail me. What excellence and inspiration. Many thanks.

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  22. Thank you for your inspiring analogies! Couldn't have said it better, and very proud to bea D mom! Tami Haines from Pa

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