Memories from my Diagnosis

Wow. I recently read a post about sugar free jolly ranchers. The memories of my diagnosis came flooding back. It is so amazing how sometimes things come full circle.

I was 9 and my little sister was 7. It must have been a special occasion because Mom let us pick out a special treat for ourselves. You see, even before I knew what diabetes was or that it even existed my Mom made us eat very healthy. Treats were just that: treats. We were already on a diet of fresh fruit and lots of veggies. Sugary cereals were not even allowed within a mile of our house (we didn't tell her about the neighbors!).

I chose Jolly Ranchers. Green is my favorite. Not apple, not lime...green. It still is. I love to eat green goodies. I have no idea why. It isn't my favorite color, but is the color I choose when going for a sugary snack. Well, this bag of Jolly Ranchers only had one green. Let me also tell you that I save my favorites for last...a lesson my husband quickly learned when he would go to nibble on MY food after he was done with his own. If it is still on my plate it means DO NOT touch it because I am saving it for last! I do it with everything; I deliberately and carefully divide what I am eating into my favorites and my not so favorites and then eat them accordingly. So what if I am only left with the green jelly beans at the end, I prefer my favorites over variety.

So I saved my green jolly rancher. We could eat one a day after we ate our supper. I kept a close eye on it and as it got closer and closer to the end of the bag, my excitement grew. It was going to be soooo yummy and boy was I going to savor it!

Little did I know that a few jolly ranchers short of getting to taste that tempting green morsel of goodness I would be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and sugar in any form, amount or color would be an absolute no-no.

So what happened to it? My little sister got to eat my green jolly rancher, while I sat there and watched tearfully. Life was NOT fair and to me it was the end of the world...

...but it wasn't, and here we are. Not only can I eat as many "real" green Jolly Ranchers as my heart desires, but now there is an apparently pretty good sugar free variety as well, that will likely wreak much less havoc on my blood sugars, and my temptations!