Choose LOVE
Julia Roosa, teacher and mum to a child with type 1, shares her story
My husband and I traded our queen bed for a kingsize about a year after our son was diagnosed with type 1.
These two developments might seem unconnected: one fairly insignificant (though we really love the bed), and the other utterly life-changing.
But there is a connection.
I’m a 47-year-old woman married 15 years to John. He’s beefy, outdoorsy and often wears flannel. He’s hardworking, funny and probably one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He turns 49 this December and works as the environmental educator and recycling director for our county. I teach classes at the local community college. We have two kids, aged 10 and 11.
Diabetes joined our family five years ago. Our son, who was then five years old, had been acting unusually tired. One Sunday, overwhelmed by thirst, he guzzled so much water that his belly looked like an overfilled water balloon. We saw the doctor fast.
Since he was first diagnosed, our son’s diabetes crawls into bed with us many nights. Not the son, just the disease. His continuous glucose monitor shrieks from his bedroom at midnight when his blood sugar is too low or too high. Our king-size bed is just big enough that one of us can respond to the alarm without waking the other. Other times, when we’re both up, we find our way back to each other across that landscape of a mattress.
It’s hard enough as middle age creeps in to keep the fire lit. Add a chronic illness in the family, and you have all the makings of some serious distance. We do what we can to shrink that space. We share a laugh, a look, or one of those moments at midnight. Through it all we keep on loving each other.
Diabetes has moved in with us, but we try not to let it get too comfortable. We’re still a family. John and I are still a couple. Sure, our lives can feel pretty crowded with this disease. It joins us at every meal, and rides along with us to every sporting event. It’s in the room when we kiss the kids goodnight. But even a kingsize bed can be cozy when you choose to stay in it together.