Remembering Molly Keane

I received a flier from the insulin support group at CPMC telling us about the next meeting. I haven't been in attendance in a long time. I remember going with Justin the first few times and how emotional they were for me. I don't know what it was about being in a room full of diabetics that made me shed tears of happiness and sadness. Happiness because these people were living proof that I could grow old and wrinkly with ten fingers and toes, white hair and beautiful wrinkly skin. Sadness because they talked about things like "trigger finger" and worries that will never cross minds of people without diabetes. In this latest newsletter, there was a line...something to the effect of expressing their deepest sympathy and sorrow about the passing of their beloved friend and colleague Molly Keane. Molly Keane. I knew her. I finally got around to googling her today and discovered she died trying to rescue her dog who was swept away by an extreme surf. It's the strangest feeling of disbelief and disconnect when you associate death with someone you recognize. Strangers dying is just the way the world works. That's life. People are born and people pass away. But people you know passing away, even if you didn't know them very well, does not feel right. Molly was a diabetes liason for a biotech company in the bay area. My former boss had given me her contact information when I was first diagnosed. I remember my first few days at the hospital when I wasn't sure if I had type-1 or type-2 diabetes. The hospital wasn't sure so they didn't want to tell me just yet. I had received a folder about "Living with type-2 diabetes". Then the next day, I received a folder about "Living with type-1 diabetes. I just wanted a straight answer. Which one was it? How could you not know or be able to tell something like this? I spoke to Molly over the phone once and I remember her telling me very frankly "I would be very very surprised if you were not type-1." Her expert and frank opinion offered some sense of closure so at that moment, at least I could move on. Molly reminds me that even the fleeting conversations we have can genuinely touch people's lives.