Wrangler Dani

My diet has changed quite a bit in the last month. The hardest thing for me to give up has been beer, since Adam and I both love breweries and good-old-fashioned football food. Set us up with beer, hot wings and/or a pizza and we’re going to be happy there for a very long time.

There is gluten-free beer available at most grocery stores, but drinking a bottle of GF beer at home wasn’t even my main concern; what really broke my heart was the thought of our casual date-nights going away, and also keeping Adam from something he loves because of my dumb disease.

Last week, we had an appointment downtown late in the afternoon. “Want to head to Deschutes?” Adam asked carefully when we finished, knowing that eating out tends to make me either panicky or tearful as I’m navigating this new diet. I was feeling courageous, so I said yes and we walked to the Deschutes Brewery Pub. Outside it was drizzling, so once inside we went into the bar and found a sweet little table right by the fireplace. SportsCenter was rolling, the fire was crackling and I felt almost like a normal person. Deschutes has a GF beer on tap, so I ordered it and couldn’t believe my tastebuds. Delicious! We asked for gluten-free food options and were brought an entire GF menu, and folks, this is where it gets good. We ordered hot wings and fries, all gluten-free and all amazing. I cried as soon as the hot wings came out, because I just couldn’t believe it. Here we were, enjoying the kind of low-key evening that epitomizes “us” and almost nothing had changed. Adam started to worry that my tears were the upset kind, but I assured him that no, I can’t believe what grace we have – I can’t believe how good this is – I can’t believe how blessed we are.

So today, I’m grateful that not everything has to change, that sometimes love is shown most poignantly through the simplest things. I’m grateful for beer and hot wings.