One Table

 I have  a dream of everyone being able to eat at one table without worry or fear. Just sharing in the human rituals of sharing food and becoming one people. Being left out of the most important bonding ritual all of us share puts Celiacs at a real disadvantage. Instead of just saying to friends "lets all grab a bite somewhere and then go to the park" we have to think about where we are going to eat and is it safe and what we are going to eat once we get there and what is everyone else having and if they have gluten items are we going to get sick while they eat it and most of all how weird are they going to think we are and are they going to like us anyway even though eating with us is not easy or carefree. Celiacs can be high maintenance friends, not that we want to be at all. It is embarrassing to have to say I'm sorry I can't eat at your house or try that wonderful casserole you made even if you made it especially for me (because I bet you didn't know to check every little ingredient on the label of every item you used to make it with and I can bet there is wheat or gluten somewhere on the list.) Not to mention the wheat flour all over your environment. And when one of us does mention the reasons we cannot accept your  invitation then you look at us as if we are being silly and way to picky. As if we have a choice in this. It truly is our health we are talking about here not a choice. If it were asbestos and not gluten everyone would understand. For Celiacs gluten might as well be asbestos. I live in fear of meeting new people because I would love to have them over for dinner and become fast friends but the day will surely come when they invite me over to their house for dinner and I have to find a way to say no without saying no. A way to explain how it is for my family. And hope that they will understand and still find us worthwhile enough to enter into this imbalanced relationship with us. I am a Chef and a wizard in the kitchen. You probably wont notice the lack of gluten on my table at all. Most don't. Which makes it harder to explain why I can't have your hamburger buns but you can have mine. Worse would be to expect them to eat the gluten free breads available to most people. They mostly taste like cardboard. I don't know how to fix this but with an unborn grandson on the way I have to try. I want the world to be a better place for him. I want there to be no lack of bonding rituals in his life. I want his friends to never even notice that his foods are all gluten free and most of all I want him to be carefree and happy and unashamed of who God made him to be, Celiac or not.