I was worried for nothing

December 1, 2004

I just had to share a positive experience we recently had. Ds and I are

vegetarian (not vegan because we have occational dairy, though I have

none at home for him, and some free range eggs that we can get

locally). Dh is not veg at all when out, but he is in the house.

Anyway, ds and I drove cross country this fall (with dh flying out and

joining us in the middle of our journey--he couldn't get 4 weeks off of

work).

The point is: in 4 weeks we only spent 5 nights in hotels. The rest of

the time we were staying with family or friends (7 different homes in

all). EVERY SINGLE PLACE we stayed made sure that there was food on the

table SPECIFICALLY for us. My uncle changed one of his best dishes to

make it vegetarian (and less spicy for my son). Another aunt offered us

our choice of 2 different kinds of veggie burgers (she didn't know what

we might like, so she got us choices). My cousin had " build your own

taco night " one night so that we could all make sure we had just what

we wanted (and there were lots of veg options). The list goes on. At

some places, others at the table sometimes ate meat, but ds was never

offered any (and neither was I). Everyone understood and respected our

wishes--and ds understands that other people eat meat.

We even went out to eat with my grandparents (in their mid-80s) and

parents at a chinese restaurant. My grandfather tried (with curiousity)

some of the tofu veg dishes that we ordered, and everyone made sure

that enough dishes ordered were veg that we would be okay.

Many places we stayed had a lot of dairy, and I don't know how it would

work if we said vegan... since the trip we have been trying to eat

totally no dairy at home, and ds is getting used to it. we'll see how

that goes.

Anyway, sorry to go on and on... With all the holiday relative stories,

I just had to share my story. (even if--like my grandparents and

parents--they don't understand the decision, we have been blessed with

family and friends who will respect it anyway.)

Thanks for letting me share.

Cindy

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