The Domino Effect of Type 1 Diabetes

Something that I started to realize on early on was this sort of domino effect of having a child with type 1 diabetes has on the world.

"Oh, your child has diabetes?  Well, my aunt's cousin, who is twice removed, has a cat with diabetes too.  We have sooooo much in common!"

Or-

"Is that insulin?  I know all about it because yesterday I watched Dr. Oz and saw him talk about it and I ran into your neighbor who told me all about your family."

This probably isn't limited to diabetes.  I think people tend to try to connect with each other through commonalities. 

For example; if you like fishing, I might try to find something on fishing to share with you.

After mentioning fishing, I find that we have built a connection and now feel a bit closer to one another.  Maybe the next time we see each other we might smile and ask each other if we caught 'the big one' yet and share a couple more fish-tales.

Except for, having type 1 diabetes is not something that we do for fun.  It is not a hobby.  Type 1 diabetes is not limited to the weekends, the shopping mall or television. 

The reality is that this is a non-curable auto-immune disease and unless you have it or live it, you can't really make relatable small-talk.

Which is why I said this today.

"Is that so?  By the way, did I hear that you like fishing?  Hey, did you know that Bass Lake has a fish somewhere deep down in the bottom that is supposed to be ten feet long and weigh 1,000 lbs?  My cousin's brother's uncle just told me."