Marie Cohen—confessions of a Type II diabetic
By Dina M. Suggs Of the St. Louis American
“Before I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I ate anything I wanted to eat and I ate lots of it. I would eat junk food and anything that tasted good. I ate a lot of soul food, too. I loved cooking jowl bacon and ham hocks for seasoning in my greens. I ate and smoked and ate all the time. I drank lots of good old bubbling beer. Bud was my favorite and I could down a six-pack in the blink of an eye. I enjoyed eating and drinking but I worked and I was always tired. I’d go to bed tire and wake up tired.
I am 76 and I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes when I was sixty. I knew right away I would have to make some drastic changes as I was headed for death at the rate I had been going. And no one likes life better than Marie Cohen! My doctor told me what I needed to do but I already knew. I make a mean peach cobbler but he said I could only have one bite. And I knew I had to stop putting fat back in my greens. Just don’t taste the same but I feel it was better for me. I gave up the junk food and beer. It took me a while to give up the cigarettes but I did. Then I was not so tired. I started doing exercises and walking and I noticed my clothes were not so tight on me anymore.
The hardest thing for me to do was [to] cook for families and not eat the food I fixed for them, like fried chicken and chicken and dumplings. But I would just take a spoon full and you should see me know. Watch out Miss America!
I would tell anyone with Type II diabetes to obey their doctor because it’s for their own good. It’s hard to do, but I did it and so can they. Just pray over it. You can’t enjoy life unless you are healthy and happy.
I am the mother of eight, the grandmother of fourteen and the great-grandmother of ten. I want to, at least, be a great, great grandmother and then some, don’t you?
My long term goal is to remain a disciplined, loving, personable woman who will be healthy and happy in spite of Type II diabetes.”