When Miss Bessie was younger, my Grandma told me, she was as skinny as a rail. She could and did eat anything she wanted. She loved going out to eat, and was never caught without a candy bar or two, and she loved colas. Grandma says as Miss Bessie grew up, she seemed to lose her energy and started putting on lots of weight. She was told she had developed diabetes. She had to start taking care of herself and needed to loose the weight. She learned how to eat right and had to gather glucose blood test supplies, things her doctor told her she would need. Of course, Grandma says, it was not easy for Miss Bessie to adjust because she was in denial about having diabetes. She just wanted her happy go lucky lifestyle back. It’s a good thing that my Grandmother had already gone through adjusting to living with diabetes, because my Grandfather had been told he had diabetes, and was in denial a while himself. He says if it wasn’t for Grandma, he probably wouldn’t be around these 30 years later. She took charge of his life and insisted that he exercise, eat right and not give her any trouble about doing it, either!