Very Old Diabetics

Here are my beloved grandparents, checking their blood sugars together, before dinner last saturday. Orville is facing us, and Betty is writing down the numbers. Orville is 89.

They don't have the most up to date meters. They take 30 seconds to display results. But, they can read them, with their limited eyesight.

They, like most of us type 2s, like their desserts. But they choose them carefully and they eat good portion sizes.

This photo is taken at their new apartment in a retirement community. Their apartment is coming together and they will get to move from the one-bedroom to a two-bedroom unit soon. They need the second bedroom, because Nana gets insomnia and needs an office where she can work in the middle of the night without disturbing Grandpa's sleep.

But they are still calculating their own insulin dosages. They still have good numbers and get good HbA1c readings. Nana's had diabetes since around 1980.

They're not on dialysis. They don't have any parts amputated. And look at that smile.

Life is good, even a good long life, with diabetes.

I don't know how long I'll have them in my life, but I am very fortunate to have had their good example.