The Elephant in the Room

Day 24 Health Activist Writers Month Challenge

Today's prompt:
Health Mascot. Give yourself, your condition, or your health focus a mascot. Is it a real person? Fictional? Mythical being? Describe them. Bonus points if you provide a visual!


I had high hopes for this post. I really did. I thought about it frequently over the last few weeks, tried to envision what I would create - would it be a happy go lucky type mascot, a angry kick diabetes butt mascot, a funny abstract as our lives mascot, etc. The thing is the last week has been absolutely crazy for us. Big changes coming for our family - details to come soon. All the crazy that has descended on us this last week has left my brain fried. I am so tired I've actually considered using toothpicks to prop my eyelids open (works in cartoons and for Mr. Bean). In the end I did not find time to create or even fully decide on a mascot. HOWEVER - I am a rule follower and the Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge encourages a post everyday. Thus I pulled one out of my bum so as to not break the rules. I will revisit the mascot topic in the future when things have settled down - especially after seeing the ultra cool zebricorn posted by Marie Smith. How does anyone compete with a mythical horned zebra? 


I really did consider taking a pass on this post - I am allowed 2 after all - but in the end I found something. I don't mean I searched the house like a crazed person desperately searching for something - anything to use. I found our 'temporary' mascot by accident while putting my iron away. On the shelf above the shelf that my iron resides 360 days out of the year (yes I only pull it out about 5 times a year to iron something - if I were meant to use it more often there wouldn't be a dry-cleaners just down the road). I didn't actually iron something tonight - I did it a couple days ago - a skirt for my daughter to wear under a dress when she dresses up like Alice to sing  "A World of My Own". 


Digressed - sorry


So above the shelf that the iron resides most the year I saw a tiny pink tail. The tail belongs to a stuffy that I had as a child. I believe I received this stuffy from my Great Grandmother when I was about 3. This stuffy was my best friend. I took her everywhere and did everything with her. 


When I was 6 I lost her. I looked everywhere for her but couldn't find her. I was a wreck - refused to eat, sleep, or calm down but my mom made me go to bed anyway. That was likely the longest night of my life up till when SugarBoy was diagnosed with diabetes. 


The next afternoon I found my stuffy in the seat of this little ride on potato bug thing. I didn't remember putting her in there but there she was safe and sound although I apologized to her for forgetting her. 


When I was 8 I couldn't fall asleep one night. I was worried that I might die in my sleep - (whose idea was it to have a child's prayer say something like "If I should die before I wake"? - It is as bad as the bow breaking allowing baby to smash to the ground with the cradle.) Anyway - I was too afraid to go to sleep - not because I might die but because what would happen to my stuffy? Wouldn't she miss me? My solution was to get out of bed and interrupt my mom and dad to ask them if they would please be sure to bury my stuffy with me if I happened to die. My folks were less than pleased for the interruption but promised that they would bury my toy with me - I don't recall if they tried to reassure me that I wasn't going to die that night. Hmmmmm...... 


Fast forward to present (since I'm sure hearing about high school years and college years with my stuffy would either bore you or cause you to believe I have unresolved childhood issues)


Diabetes is everywhere - it can not be ignored. I recently learned of a ultra fantastic song written and performed by George Simmons that has a line that says "You scream so loud without a voice". That is how I feel about diabetes all the time and since I have two kids with Type 1 I hear it in stereo. (you can purchase George's song on iTunes btw)


Like I was saying diabetes is not ignorable - it is the elephant in the room. A great FB friend - another D-Mom that met via the CWD Forums wrote a beautiful story about the elephant in the room and I hope to share it but she is East Coast and I am central and it is 11:59pm here. Surely she is snug-as-a bug in bed and I don't want to share it without permission. Thus - check back later tomorrow for the elephant story - until then.....
(Story is now added below)

Meet Elli

Becky's Elephant Story - I read it a couple years ago and think of it a least once a week.

A little over 3 years ago an elephant moved into my living room.

" Oh no! What the heck is that?!?!? Is that an elephant? What is it doing in my living room?! That doesn’t belong here! I want it out! My living room isn’t big enough for that thing. It's making an awful mess!

What’s that? I have to take care of it? I don't know the first thing about elephant care. No one in my family has an elephant in their living room.

Ok, to be honest, I’m afraid of it, I don’t know if I can take care of it properly.

What if I screw it up? What if I fail?
Can I run away from it for awhile and think about things?

Oh, there are others with elephants in their living rooms too? So they would understand right? Even when others don’t.
And there are books on elephant care? That’s good I like to read

Ok then all right, I'll do my best to take good care of it. When will it leave?
What do you mean you don’t know?!

Ok so I have to take real good care of it and you don’t know when it will leave?

Dr Faustman? Who’s she? Will she be able to make it leave my living room?
Well at least someone’s working on that, that’s a comfort.

Today:

The elephant is still there in the living room. Most days it stays over in the corner, quiet, leaving us plenty of room to live our lives around it. Some days it will try to lumber out in the middle of the room and get in the way. I just give it some extra attention and then gently shove it back there where it belongs.

Elephant, I may have to accept your being in my living room but I don’t have to like it or you.

Just stay out of my kids way, they have lots of plans and dreams and you will never be allowed to get in the way of them.