...
So yeah, it's not that I ask other people to do stuff
so that I don't have to. It's because ALL that she and we are capable of doing
just isn't enough sometimes. And yes, on SOME special occasions, I feel that it's not too much to ask of other parents to make themselves or their kids "go hungry" (or at least not eat allergens in her vicinity-- and wash their hands) so that my child can do things like...
visit a public library
attend a museum event
see a play or concert
participate in a team sport
try on prom dresses at a boutique
go to a book signing
attend a ceremony intended to honor her in some way
make a purchase at a toy store
attend her own high school graduation ceremony
If none of that is "reason enough" to think twice, then I'm at a loss, honestly. Is it that people don't
believe in my daughter's reality? I'm truly not sure. ..
For once and for all-- what other people EAT and DO with food
can and regularly DOES impact food allergic people. Their lives are
really hard already.
...
I cannot count the number of times when I've seen that light finally dawn on an individual-- when they watch us walk away from something that they can see means a lot to us. It's always "Ohhhhhh-- I had no idea..." I'm bemused by that. What? No idea that....
I wasn't just making it up?? that we really meant it? or just that we really do see the choice as 'is this worth DD's life?' I have no idea, but that look-- in someone that I've attempted to talk to at length in an effort to work something out? It
angers me. Because it's crystal clear in that moment that they've just been blowing smoke at me, and I've been wasting my time and energy on someone that can't/won't/doesn't listen.
I've had that sensation again and again and again with DD's school over the years. Most recently at her commencement. (Which she wound up not attending, btw.)
