Although chronically ill people primarily experience living and coping with their lifelong predicament in the context of family, familial coping with diabetes is an almost unexplored field of research. This qualitative study focused on type 2 diabetes in Yazd, Iran with the aim of exploring I) how diabetic patients and their families get a new relative balance in their lives through coping strategies; II) how they make sense of their disease; and III) how do the family reality changes along with experiencing chronic illness in daily life.