Be grateful for the little things - even when they are BIG

When my son was diagnosed with celiac disease at the ripe old age of three, I was most of all, profoundly grateful.

Instead of MS, or leukemia,or any one of a list of horrid degenerative and possibly fatal diseases,  he had a simple auto-immune disorder with a straightforward "cure":  Lifelong adherence to a gluten free diet.
I am still grateful, and the fact that about 1% of the population shares my child's intolerance of the protein gluten has meant I no longer have to order his food from Canada or Europe.  The simple cure, however, is neither simple nor a cure. 

I had forgotten about adolescence, Where every social event is fed by pizza--and of course what to do in college, the age of beer?  When you enter the time period of development where the pressure to be like everyone else, to fit in, is, in our case, literally choking.  If my beloved Celiac gives in to peer pressure, he will begin to throw up.  His entire intestinal system will revolt. And so, my child remains, forever, NOT one of the crowd.  The logistical part of always having to feed him BEFORE he goes to an event is easy.