Just the Three of Us

Passover is almost here, once again. During the Passover Seder, four questions are asked, including, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” In our allergy house, every night is different. Well, not to our little one who hasn’t experienced otherwise. The way we live is normal to her because she knows not what she misses (except from what she sees on children’s television programming).

There are many traditional foods for Passover. I love them all, yet most are dangerous to the Babe. Being allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy, fish, and coconut excludes many of the traditional foods like: Matza, hard boiled eggs, gefilte fish, and macaroons. Without matza or eggs, there are no matza balls. And not the traditional harosets of apples, raisins and walnuts since she tested allergic to apples recently and we avoid all nuts.  We will eat, we won’t starve, but it won’t be like it once was.

The Seder is supposed to be filled with noise, song, family and friends. For us, it will just be the three of us. While we were going to be alone the first night, our guests for the second night cancelled due to the Babe’s most recent illness. So when you wonder what its like to live with food allergies, besides being stressful, its also very isolating. My daughter is very social, would love to play and talk to just about anyone and everyone. She’s precocious, bright, very verbal, and very cute. And she’s lonely. She asks for her friends and family, but they all have things to do, like school, or living a distance away. And while our schedule is clear, and gas money isn’t an issue, we cannot go to them. It is just us. So this year, an added answer to why the night of the Seder is different, it will be because it will just be the three of us. We have had two years living with allergies to adjust to that concept. It is just the three of us.