"How It Began" or "You MUST Be Joking"

It was about 12 years ago that I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.   My doctor's words were clear, "Your blood work is back, and you have diabetes."  My response, "That's ridiculous!  How could that be?  I feel fine."

She asked me some questions and I told her that when my son was born, my obstetrician did some testing.  He said that because my bouncing baby boy weighed in at 9 lbs., 3 oz., he just wanted to check.  The results were:  Gestational Diabetes.  "What does that mean?" I asked.  "It just means that later in life you could become diabetic."   Knowing that we were discussing the far and distant future, I put it out of my mind.  (That was in 1975.)  I was a kid, who knew?

I told my doctor, "He said LATER IN LIFE."  Her response:  "This is it."  I was stunned, and still wasn't convinced.  She asked about my family history.  Explaining that diabetes was not "hanging" from MY family tree, unless you count my brother...  "There you go," she said.  And the journey began.