Maybe I'm seeing the glass as half full, but it feels like we might be in the midst of a shift in cultural narrative about diabetes.
For example, did you notice the way President Obama addressed the fact that his Supreme Court nomination, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, has diabetes? Her diabetes wasn't the story anyone led with, but it also wasn't a fact that was overlooked or ignored. The story line felt pitch perfect to me, that this is a remarkable woman, who has achieved remarkable things in her life, all of which have led to this remarkable moment in history, and by the way, she's done so while having diabetes. The story goes that we can respect her noteworthy accomplishments that much more because of this fact. Diabetes adds to the picture of this person, not subtracts.
Maybe the new story line emerging is one that says that diabetes doesn't make a person less than but rather, it actually makes them remarkable. A plus to all their other accomplishments they have as a human being throughout their lifetime. Maybe what's starting to emerge here is a larger cultural understanding that living well with diabetes is in it's own right, actually one of life's accomplishments worthy of notice and respect.
Now wouldn't that be remarkable!
i was reading about Sonia in the ny times recently, and was also surprised and delighted to see how accepting and supportive the coverage of her diabetes was! maybe things really are finally changing ...
Posted by: blythe | June 05, 2009 at 07:58 PM
Yes, Birdie, we are ALL remarkable because we live with db.Hope your summer is off to a great start, my dear.
Posted by: Minnesota Nice | June 06, 2009 at 08:41 AM
Funny, I wrote almost the same thing on my blog, in relation to Sotomayor that we are "more" not "less" for having and managing diabetes, along with our every day lives. It's in my blog story, "Should diabetes be a factor in hiring? Absolutely. http://www.diabetesstories.com/stories_blog/should_diabetes_be_a_factor.html
You and I are twinning, riva
Posted by: riva | June 11, 2009 at 02:19 PM
Birdie,
I hope you are well--in fact, better than well, superb! Unreasonable to expect, sure, but I do wish reading about your thoughts on life. Post more soon!
Posted by: Alyssa | September 22, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Correction: "but I do wish you would post more because I love reading about your thoughts on life. Post more!" :]
Posted by: Alyssa | September 22, 2009 at 11:03 AM