I hear all too often that people are “blacklisted” or are the “black sheep” of their family or social circle. It makes me sad that there are people out there that don’t want to take the time or effort to understand WHY someone may not have the option to not be gluten free.
I am one of the lucky ones. My friends, and certainly my family, take time to understand why I now live the life I do. There are lots of questions and it still may be hard to understand all that is involved with Celiac Disease. I realized that today as I spent time with my “family away from family” as we went to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
I made my way to the restaurant on top of the hill quicker than the rest of the fam as I knew I would have lots of questions for the staff and would have to think a little more on what I would have to order. Luckily, they were familiar with gluten free at the restaurant so it made me more comfortable. The best part was that they had buns for the hamburgers and other sandwiches and they could leave the seasoning off the fries, which were by themselves gluten free. Now, a note…I don’t know that there was a separate kitchen for my food nor do I believe that there were separate fryers for the fries. Cross contamination was almost certain.
Well, this brought a question from my friend Brad. He was kind enough to double check that my food was gluten free. Bonus point for him! But it brought up tons of questions which makes me super happy. Questions on whether the fries were truly ok (probably not). What happens when I’m, in my words, “glutened”? (diarrhea, stomach cramps, bloating). Why does this happen? (No absorption) He had many more questions and, I hope, I could answer them so that it made sense. Celiac Disease is a crazy weird disease. The ride home, and the drive thru at McDonald’s, brought a whole new set of questions from Brad and his wife, and one of my closest friends, Jammie. Fast food is not the best friend to a Celiac but when a kid wants a Happy Meal, it’s pretty hard to argue with that!
But it makes me realize that I’m super lucky. That I have support from my family and my friends and that they WANT to understand not only Celiac Disease but want to keep me healthy and watch out for me as well.
Do you have a great support system? Tell me about it.
Jammie and I on the Canyon Swing at the Adventure Park.
misssillyyak 