Today is World Diabetes Day, and before you roll your eyes like "hii pia ni lecture ingine?", relax. This one is different. Let's talk about diabetes the way real people actually live it, not the boring textbook version, but the mama mboga, matatu, office tea break, ugali lover, Nairobi hustle reality. Because in Kenya, diabetes isn't just a condition, it's part of conversations we're scared of, joke about, or avoid completely… until life forces the talk on us.

Last weekend was just a normal weekend for me. But looking back now, I realise how small things kept reminding me that diabetes isn't somewhere far, it's quietly living in the same spaces we do.

Saturday morning, I woke up already tired, which didn't make sense. I got dressed and walked to mama mboga to buy sukuma and tomatoes. As she packed my shopping, she said, "Wewe siku hizi unakunywa maji mingi, mbona?" I laughed it off, told her, "Ah mama, ni joto," but the truth is, that thirst has been following me for a while.

After that I headed home, cleaned up, and later met my friend for a movie at Sarit. As we watched, I noticed the screen looked way brighter than usual. I kept rubbing my eyes. Vision kidogo fuzzy. I blamed it on too much phone time during the week.

After the movie we grabbed chips, soda, and talked about life. Nothing unusual. But I found myself hungrier than I expected. Again, I brushed it off.

I spent my Sunday with my family. Everyone was fine, laughing, cooking. But I noticed I was going to the loo more often than the rest. Also that constant thirst again, that tiredness that doesn't add up, that slight blur in my eyes.

Then I realised I've been ignoring my own red flags because "I'm young," "I'm busy," "I'm stressed," "I'll be fine." Diabetes doesn't always shout. Sometimes it just sits quietly in your everyday life.