I was born in a small New England town of about 3000
people. Two gas stations, three
churches, and not a single stop light.
Youngest child of a dairy farmer with 200 acres to run, play and
explore. Went to the same schools my father did, even had a couple of the same
teachers. Summers were long, winters
were cold, and life was good.
Sounds ideal doesn’t
it?
This is the condensed version of my childhood. The one I would tell any of you should we
meet in person. I had the perfect
childhood, and if I let myself, I can almost believe it.
But if I think about it, I start remembering. And when I start remembering I start hurting,
and when I start hurting I reach for comfort foods. Some of my favorites from my childhood;
Grandma Parker’s strawberry shortcake, Lemon Meringue Pie, Maple Walnut ice
cream, lots of ice cream, maple cotton candy, maple sugar candy (Did I mention I
grew up in Vermont, where all things maple are sacred?), apple pie w/ ice cream,
Oreo ice cream sundaes….I seriously could go on for hours…
If you don’t think about the hurt, and go back to my
picturesque childhood you are still going to see my father, pre diabetic, and
then diabetic, putting sugar on everything.
I thought it was normal to put sugar on cantaloupe. Sugar on leaf lettuce from the garden. Stops at the small town bakery several times a
week. 50 cents for penny candy. Chunky candy bars in the glove box. *shrugs*
It was my normal…
The dairy farm meant whole unpasteurized milk at all
times. Plenty of it. Morning, noon & night. To this day I can not drink whole
milk. It also meant slaughtering our own
meat, vegetarians look away now. We had
a large chest freezer filled with bacon, hams, venison, steaks, chops, burger,
liver, roasts, sausage, you name it, we had it.
And we ate it. Liberally. Salad for dinner? Broiled fish? Not in this house!!!! No Way No
How!
So, poor food role models added to poor genetic make up… My
father, passed away at age 70. My Daddy, Diabetic, high blood pressure, heart
disease, arthritic joints, gastric reflux.
My mother passed away at age 57 of breast cancer, alcoholism, COPD…
So troubled childhood + bad food role models + unfortunate
genes, + a VERY unhealthy relationship & marriage to a man who was
emotionally & physically abusive to me brought me to 250 pounds, on lil ole
5’2 me.
I am now 37, almost 38 years old, divorced and remarried to
a WONDERFUL man. He knew me at 250.
Loved me at 250. Married me at
250. But knowing that my Daddy was diagnosed with diabetes at age 35, time is
not on my side. I started this weight
loss journey because I was scared. I
started in January, and so far, as of this morning, I have lost 40 lbs. And I am looking forward to having a picturesque ideal healthy adulthood, to match that ideal childhood I spoke to you about when we first met….
