Diabetic Dad

It's Fathers Day on Sunday in the UK and also I believe in the US and Canada. A day to celebrate how great dads can be and hopefully get a little pampering from the kids.

As usual I have approached the day with focus on making sure the gift I for my father is suitable whilst not being too costly. Thanks Dad, you taught me well ;-)  It always takes me a while to realise that I now sit on the other side of the gift fence even though I've now had one or two little ones for over six years now.

As I say that bit of me was drifting along until I saw a tweet from the Diabetes Hands Foundation asking for any comments on dads and in particular dads of diabetic children or diabetic dads. So here's my bit...

Story 1 - My superstar Dad:

I've grown up with diabetes since I was three so my dad has been there for pretty much my whole journey until I left home.  Looking after a diabetic kid is one of those things that can only be appreciated, and then only by a very small bit, once the diabetic has a kid of their own.  We were out walking with Laura, my mum and dad and maybe a few nephews up Whitbarrow Scar.  Back in the day I maybe wasn't as vigilant as I could have been and half way up the hill I went a bit 'waffy'. Waffy was always my parents gentle way of say I was having a hypo without making too much fuss.  Laura wanted to wait with me but my dad gently told her it was OK and to carry on. I then sat there for a few minutes turning back the clock to when he had done that decades before.  It was only a small moment that was over in minutes but is something that has stuck with me since because he never forgot what to do and was always there to help when needed in a calm and reassuring way. Thanks Dad.

Story 2 - My artistic son:

I'll admit this isn't quite as 'deep'.  When my son was younger it used to be bath time every night before we dried and changed him on the landing (not sure if 'landing' is a british term but I use it to mean the piece of our house at the top of the stairs outside the bedrooms and bathroom; a 1st floor foyer if you like).  One of these nights it was before dinner and my BG decided to plummet.  It was either me or Laura who went to get some biscuits and I laid flat out on the landing waiting for the BG to come back up.  Son decided to get a pen and use me as a drawing pad and quite happily drew on my face laughing as I didn't have any energy to prevent him.  It has now entered family folklore on how he looked after me in my hour of need.  This isn't a story of heroic rescue by the son just something that still makes us all smile 5 years on.

So that's my bit. Being a son or a dad is the best thing in the world and I'm lucky to have fantastic parents, children and a wife to share this world with.

I hope everyone has a fantastically wonderful weekend and I promise to update the blog very soon with more pieces I've got lined up.

Take care.

Dave

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