Hello Everyone
I have talked many times about friendships and what it takes to be my friend or the friend of an environmentally ill person. I have also talked about Tyvek being this mold survivor’s best friend because it allows others to come into my home without risk of bringing mold in on their clothing or fragrances from their laundry products.
Today my dear friend Victoria came over for a yearly ritual of Christmas cookie baking. We bake all day and then give away most of the cookies. It is the friendship and the tradition of baking cookies that we love. We talk and chat over the roar of the mixer and the oven timer going off. It is the one day we have no other agenda than to visit and create something to give away.
Several years ago Victoria gave up her daily routine of putting on her favorite perfume before heading off to teach her classes. She wanted to be free to stop by and visit me anytime she wanted and wearing her favorite perfume restricted her visits. I am so thankful for this kind of friendship.
I digress a little to tell a story about going to her home for an outdoor party during the summer. Everyone was told not to wear perfumes to avoid getting me sick. One friend of hers forgot. I thought I had sat far enough away from her when the coughing began. The horrible gut wrenching coughing that does not stop. We had to get me the heck away from her. I was moved far out into the yard and had to take both my inhaler and a histamine injection. Of course Victoria’s friend felt horrible. What did Victoria do? She sent her friend upstairs to shower and then gave her clothes to put on that didn’t have perfume on them. This friend of hers always brings that story up when someone asks if I am really that sensitive and tells them about the day she almost killed me. And she has never forgotten about the perfume since then.
Ok, back to my baking story. Victoria and I baked 12 dozen cookies today (brown sugar shortbread, sugar cookies with sprinkles, angel crisps and butter cookies). We had attempted another butter cookie that was supposed to go into a cookie press (it came out in a mess). The recipe also suggested a pastry bag, it wouldn’t go through the decorating tip. We decided to just make balls and bake them. That didn’t work very well either not to mention that we had the bright idea of adding food coloring to them to make them pretty which for some strange reason the red dye turned the dough this ugly orange. As much as I hate to waste food, the dough was tossed and chalked up to an experiment.
My half of the cookies are all boxed up and will be given out or frozen for company if we should have any. Below are pictures. Note that I can be seen in my jeans, shirt and Christmas apron and Victoria is wearing the latest in Tyvek fashion. How many of you have friends that will go this far to be able to bake with you in your kitchen?
Victoria and I baking in my kitchen.
Our strange colored dough.
allergictolifemybattle 
Love it——— so glad you had such a good day– & have that special friend & that bond!!! 🙂
So am I. When I spent a year in Dallas in 2003, I received weekly cards from her to cheer me up.
WOW!!! Sounds like a great day! How lucky you are to have such an amazing friend in Victoria! Thanks to Victoria for being such a great friend!
I haven’t been so lucky. I am fortunate to have a husband and children left at home so I am not alone, but other than that, since living like this for 15 years… most friends and almost all family are unwilling to accommodate my illness. Unless I am willing to risk being ill, we don’t go anywhere or have people over. We do try as often as I can tolerate so that my family can have some semblance of a normal life, but whenever we do it always takes at least a few days for me to recover. Unfortunately, one of my relatives has recently had issues with allergies and being intolerable to scents. So, while I’m happy to have someone to commiserate with, I’m horrified by the circumstance and yes really pray for the day that others, who aren’t affected, can/will accommodate/empathize as opposed to judging and excluding. It’s hard enough to live like this every day and the pain of exclusion, particularly for my spouse and children just because they are ‘stuck’ with me is truly demoralizing. The ‘canaries in the coal-mine’ are also the ‘lepers’ in our North American society, after 15 years its hard to maintain the stamina and the positivity.
I am fortunate in that my daughters were grown (or at least out of high school) when this happened to me. I did lose friendships but I have been fortunate to have some true and steady friends. Victoria’s husband also suits up. We have get togethers in their beautiful backyard when the weather is nice and they suit up and come into my home during inclimate weather. Yes I hadn’t thought about the canaries being today’s lepers. I so wish that not just friends but families would take a better stance in insuring that their families or friends are not ignored because of these crazy sensitivities that they have. I have always said I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy but I wouldn’t mind if they walked around in my shoes for a little bit to see what life is like “inside the bubble”. Hang in there.
Those cookies are amazing! Well done… It’s such a lovely tradition. And your friend is true gem. It’s people like that (and you) who help bring about an awareness of this condition. For all the people who struggle with this condition, things will change, and bless you all ♥ ♥ ♥
Can I ask: what is your kitchen made out of? Is it hardwood, or sealed with something? It looks fantastic, and so do the tiles…
Miche
My cabinets are red oak with no stain. My husband sprayed them with AFM sealer and that is it. Any part of the cabinet that would have been particle board to limit the heaviness has been sealed in a laminate that I do fine with. The tiles are the same as the floor tiles but smaller. Thank you. I am happy with my kitchen although I probably would make changes if I did it over again.
So sweet, and what a test of friendship! Makes one wonder which friends would go that far for me. Such a sweet story, too. In some ways, you’re really lucky. That’s a true friend right there.
Yes I am lucky in my friendship with Victoria as well as her husband. They came over New Year’s Eve and donned those beautiful and elegant white tyvek suits. We had dinner and played games until we were all too tired and called it a night.
Pingback: Book Launch Update | allergictolifemybattle