Today I took my son to a Birthday party for one of his friends. It was that awesome kind of party where you could take your child, drop them off, and come back to pick them up after three hours. Perfection! This was going to be a great day! I came back a little early, and walked into a house of wild six year olds running circles around the house.
Everyone was having fun, and the party was a huge success. When I walked back to the kitchen, though, I looked over at the table, and there was one little boy crying...actually, he was even a little hysterical. I wondered what was wrong, and went over to find out. At first, he could hardly talk, because he was crying so hard. In between sobs, he was saying that he was allergic to eggs, and he couldn't eat dairy. He started listing off other the things he was unable to eat. I put my hand on his back, and tried my best to calm him down.
"You must be very hungry,"I said. "I am," he said. "I couldn't eat anything," he said dramatically. "I couldn't eat cake, and everybody was eating without me! It made me feel completely left out, like nobody liked me." He started crying harder. "Well, there must be something you can eat, right?" I said. I started listing things, and he refused all of my suggestions. Finally, I asked him what he could eat, since he had so many restrictions. He thought for a minute, and his face brightened. "I remember coming over here a long time ago, and I got to eat something really good, but they are probably out of them." "What was it?" I asked." "The last time I was here, I got to eat crackers and peanut butter, but I am sure they don't have them anymore!" Knowing my friend Linda, who was the mother of the Birthday boy, I immediately knew that she would be fully stocked in that department, as I always go to her house when I run out of snacks. And, sure enough, we found peanut butter and pretzels, which he was equally excited about.
Why do I tell this story? Well, I think I was so impacted by the fact that there are so many people with food sensitivities out there. I have always imagined how challenging it must be on a certain level when someone is unable to eat anything they want without experiencing consequences. It is frustrating, because you have to find other alternatives. Today I was really struck with how it impacts people on such a deep emotional level as well. When this little boy said that he actually felt left out, like the other kids didn't like him because he couldn't participate in eating the same foods, I wanted to cry with him.
Last night, I found out that a friend who has watched Justin (my son), was in the middle of having surgery for what she thought was an ulcer. It turned out to be stage one stomach cancer. Now, she will be unable to eat meat, gluten or dairy. I really feel a tug to help out if I can. She is so young; just trying to get through college. I hadn't planned on focusing on people with food sensitivities in my cooking, because I am worried about the liability involved. However, it seems that there are so many people out there with special diets. Maybe I will have to look into that.
Food is such a way of connecting, however the opposite can also be true, when you are left out due to dietary restrictions.
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