Uncle Bernard and Aunt Gertrude

I'm thinking again about how lucky I am to be living now. One thing that makes this very clear is hearing about my relatives who had diabetes. Apparently type 1 diabetes skipped a generation on my mother's side of the family. Mom had two brothers and three sisters, none with type 1 diabetes, but her mother, my grandmother had two type 1 siblings.
Dude, as they called my Grand Aunt Gertrude, married young, and at the age of 19, was pregnant and diabetic. A specialist put her on insulin, but her own doctor didn't think insulin was safe. So she and her baby died.
Grand Uncle Bernard, six years older than Gertrude, was also diagnosed with diabetes, and stayed on insulin. He was a farmer and worked hard his whole life. When I was diagnosed, I was told of his vigorous health in spite of diabetes. It was only recently I heard that he didn't live to reach 40.
I never met either of my type 1 relatives, but I find their stories interesting, and I think there are lessons I can learn from them. Maybe the most important thing to be learned is that I should be grateful for the medical treatment available to me, and make the best possible use of it.