Just to explain the picture below (I tried to type this out as fast as I could from this beautiful card I was given by NADA - I feel it explains my way of living with diabetes so well )
The Ribbon of Life represents the struggles, trials, and triumphs of dealing with diabetes. The four colours represent all people who struggle with diabetes. Many people are affected by diabetes; however, “Aboriginal people have been and continue to be devastated by this illness”. The four colours represent the four seasons, as diabetes is a disease that we deal with year round. White is winter, red is spring, yellow is summer and black is fall. The four colours represent the importance of exercise, healthy eating, stress management and medicine, when you have diabetes. They also represent the four aspects of the human nature; spiritual, emotional, physical and mental. When you are ill with diabetes, you are out of balance in one of these areas of your life. You need to work to be healthy and well balanced.
The seven blue beads represent the seven generations that we should think about as we deal with all problems; diseases and plans. The blue beads remind us of the water that sustains us. Water is life. The leather reminds us that nature surrounds us and protects us and that we must protect and respect it. The first knot is life, which is the beginning. The knots at the bottom are the end of life and the length in between in our life, our chosen path. The ribbon without the bead signifies the Aboriginal person with diabetes; how individuals stand in their aloneness with this disease, and that it’s a blood imbalance.
NADA Envisions Diabetes Free People
(The “Ribbon of Life” was designed and created by the Southern Ontario Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (SOADI).