Sweet Passover to all ;)

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:29 pm

I am in the habit of looking forward to Passover celebrations. Then I keep remembering, I'm going to be at a meal in someone else's home tonight with 15 people, and tons of dishes full of 'ingredients' I can't possibly figure out whether I can eat or not. Obviously, no matzoh for me (or the soup the matzoh balls were cooked in, or the desserts). My carrot side dish looks fabulous... I hope it's not the only thing on my plate ;)

Having said that, the holiday is all about freedom - from slavery, from worry, from narrowness.. and for me, in a very light-hearted way, from a significant list of foods... and more significantly, from caring at all about whether I get to eat certain things, and valuing far more greatly health, friendship, and whatever "breaking bread" with loved ones will come to mean to me. If one thing it means this evening is a lot of carrots and not much else, it will be wonderful.

Love,

Sara

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:39 pm

Happy Passover to you, Sara!! I love your attitude!!

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:11 pm

Happy Passover! I hope you are able to fill your tummy and enjoy the company.

Gloria

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:09 pm

Wow, what a great attitude, to be able to see MC as a kind of freedom from eating certain foods, and from caring about whether or not you eat them. I want to develop that kind of an attitude!

Happy Passover.

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:21 pm

Happy Passover! Way to go being thankful for what you have

Mary Beth

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:12 am

Happy Passover Sara.

I so admire your attitude and please rejoice in the freedom from certain foods. It will be a great benefit to you in the end - no pun intended.

Love, Maggie

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:18 am

Thanks, all, for your kind thoughts! I think giving up leavened bread for Passover is supposed to be more a joyful remembrance than a deprivation. I sure don't have that attitude 24/7, but it's good to aspire.

I'm finding it easier to to communicate about this to "normal" eaters - if people ask whether I can tolerate something, or whether just a little will make me sick, I say that I don't know for sure. And almost everyone responds, "...and you wouldn't want to risk it." Right! Sometimes I even tell a little white lie, and say, "but if I did risk it, it would be for that great-looking cake." But it probably wouldn't... not even going to think about what it might be ;)

Love,
Sara

Mags · Post by **Mags** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:23 am

Sara--

I'll add to the others here and say that your attitude is truly an inspiration. You are funny and always cheerful. I look forward to reading your posts!

They serve as a wonderful counterpoint to my general (inherited, I assure you) grumpiness, and desire to fling myself upon those who suggest "a little won't hurt me" and throttle them! You always make me see the good side of things.

Happy Passover,

Maggie

irisheyes13 · Post by **irisheyes13** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:05 am

Sara - What an upbeat post and great attitude!

I hope your evening was fabulous and you were able to eat more than carrots! I have to agree with Maggie- my reaction is much closer to hers than yours when the suggestion is made "a little won't hurt me" lol. I'm sure you guaranteed an enjoyable evening was had by all with your wonderful disposition.

Happy Passover,

Kelly

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:21 am

Oh, I can be pretty savage - this was a caring question out of interest, not someone telling me they know better about my guts than I do. I can be a sweet little ray of sunshine, but let's just say... no one makes that mistake that twice ;)

My friend's mother had developed an allergy to clams in her 60s or 70s - a favorite summer treat all her life. For some time, she was eating the number of clams she figured would make her feel 'a little' dreadful, but not ruin her vacation. As we MCers might have predicted, that was a doomed experiment. So I think she was coming from an open-minded desire to know, is this one of those things that will send you to the emergency room, or something that you might tolerate a little of occasionally, or some third thing? And of course, it's MC - so it's the third thing.

I, of course, am looking around the table and thinking, WOW, s/he isn't looking as well as last time we got together... I wonder what gluten is doing to THAT person. Because now I see gluten lurking in all kinds of shadows...

My food error was too much green salad. I had made it myself, so you know it was to my taste! I feel good today, and I didn't have those amorphous fatigue/headache kind of symptoms, so I think overall I was careful enough. And lucky.

Wishing you all tastiness and luck, too!

Sara

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:01 pm

Happy Passover to you Sara - glad to hear your evening went well - you've got a great attitude. Someone said here recently that it helps to focus on the people and socializing, rather than the food. I have found this "mind shift" to help a lot. It's quite rewarding and interesting to "really listen" to what other people have to say, and it takes your mind off the "food thing".

Love,
Kari

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:14 pm

Have a great Passover Sara. I'm sure you will maneuver your way through the foods....

Take care

Joe