EMERGEN-D MISSION

This post is by Soara-Joye, meet her here!

Happy Friday d-folk!!! I have sooo many stories to tell you all however time is of the essence so I will tell you one now and save the others for a more opportune time.

So I went out of town for a few days with my girlfriend, Rokia, to be with her family in Virginia. Boy is it nice to be able to get out of New York even if only for 3 days, nawhadimean? Lol! The house we stayed in was amazingly beautiful and there were probably about 10 of her family members visiting altogether. Anyway, I was using my “one touch changes everything” device throughout the day, of course, and most of the time in front of a different person each time who didn’t know I was a divabetic. The matriarch of the house we stayed in , let’s call her “Regina”, happened to have type 2 diabetes but wasn’t “out” about it with her family… Her husband and daughter on 2 separate occasions inquired about my diabetes saying things like “You’re a diabetic?” “How many times do you check?” “Do you take insulin?” “Does it hurt?”, etc. They were very inquisitive, nice and for the most part, asked really great questions. Then the truth came out “My wife has diabetes but that’s all I know about it. I don’t know how serious it is and I just wanted to know more about it.” “I love my mom, but she won’t talk to me about it and she doesn’t even know I know she has it. Please keep this a secret, she doesn’t want anyone to know.” “We want to be there for her, but she won’t let us in!” Then they proceeded to show me her medicine; Novolog and Lantus in the back of the fridge…”I use them too!!!” “OMGosh, I feel like I’m doing something wrong!”, I thought. “I don’t wanna “out” this woman I hardly know. What do I do?” Well I guess I wouldn’t be outing her but you know what I mean. These are things she should talk to THEM about. I wasn’t part of their family…

I believe everything happens for a reason even if it’s not always about me. I felt in those moments, that was the reason I had gone to Virginia- to be there for a fellow diabetic and let them know that it was ok. I was excited!

Every time Rokia, “Regina” and I were in a room together, Rokia would say “check now so she can see that you’re a diabetic too and start talking to you!” I did do that a few times…staging a “mock check stop” for that specific purpose. Lol! It was crazy! After the 3rd time in a few hours, I decided to let go of trying to force her to talk about it when WE thought she should, and let it happen organically because “Regina” either never saw me or just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.

Eventually it happened! I NEEDED to check and she happened to be right beside me. There was no way she could miss it. She said “What’s that?”, and I explained it to her as if she had no idea…and that felt right A few hours later I had a feeling I should check and when I did and it turned out that I was 43! Ugh! I had a bit of a hissy; mostly because I didn’t feel it and i never can understand how I can be THAT low and NOT feel ANYTHING!!! Anyway, “Regina” got up right away, pulled me into the kitchen
and gave me a cookie AND a fruit cup with peaches. We were talking and she kept saying “I understand” and then she said “I have diabetes too.” OMGosh, she’s talking, she’s talking!!!! Rokia heard her as well because she had come into the kitchen to also make sure I was ok and she was excited too! Hahahaha! God was working it out in HIS time, not OURS, lol!

A few hours later, which also happened to be our last night there, “Regina”, her husband and I were in the kitchen having a snack. It was also just around the time that I had to check and take my Lantus. I did so and “Regina” just started talking about it! All of it; her device, how many times she checks, etc. Her husband pretended not to listen. I’m sure this made her even more comfortable to share, because she thought it was only I that was listening. I told her about these cool lancets I used and asked her if she wanted a few to try, attempting to break the ice. About 10 minutes into our conversation, her husband mouthed the words “thank you” to me and left the room to let us talk. 3 hours later we had exchanged contact information, become d-bff’s and she even gave me a few super thin needles to use! Sweet “Regina” kept saying that God had brought me there that weekend and she was grateful. I KNEW that God had brought me there and I was EXTREMELY thankful! Talking to a d-friend always feels good!

I am grateful that I was able to be there for a fellow diabetic and look forward to many other EMERGEN-D missions!!! (Rokia made that up! lol!) Have you had a mission lately? Have a great D-Day!