Me = Gluten Free

Disclaimer from Mel's mom:  I do not remember events occurring in the manner described in this personal narrative that Mel wrote for school.

Hook: Have you ever wondered to not be able to eat at McDonald’s?

1^st day/introduction: On June 13, 2009, I became gluten free. It all started when my brother had a doctor appointment and he wanted me to come with him. Our mom drove us to our appointment and we arrived a few minutes before a nice nurse called us in. My brother and I were going to have our blood drawn to see if we had celiac disease (a whole different story). When our blood was being drawn, my mom was trying to calm Dennis, my brother, down. I was being a good role model. My brother was following my lead. Here are my 6 rules… Step one: be calm. Step two: hold your hand in a fist. (Or to him hold mom’s hand so hard she can’t feel it afterwards.) Step three: have your long hair tucked behind your ears. Step four: make sure you DO NOT look scared. Step five: make sure Mel feels awesome. Step 6: look away. My brother soon became calm. We were in the doctor’s office waiting for our results as soon as our blood was finished being taken. Our doctor came in finally and told us the news. He told my mom, “Mrs. Stocking, your kids do not have celiac disease.” My mom thanked the doctor for his time, she let us get some stickers, and then we left. Our mom put us on a gluten free diet to see if we react to being gluten free. For dinner we had some tater tot casserole.

1^st week: When I woke up I easily forgot all about being gluten free. Usually there are leftovers but, today there weren’t any leftovers. I asked my mom what there was to eat and she said, “There is some cereal and potatoes.” I settled down for some Rice Chex instead of chicken nuggets. I really wanted some chicken nuggets. The next day I wanted some Poptarts but, they were apparently gluten like almost everything else in the whole wide world. I had some Chocolate Chex and it was better than the plain and boring Rice Chex. Day after day was the same. On Saturday, there were Fruit Loops and I reminded myself that they were gluten and I was gluten free. I complained to myself, all day, about not being able to eat the delicious gluten I’ve had when I was younger.

1^st month: My dad makes Dennis and I lunch that’s gluten, of course, when my mom is at work. He also doesn’t make my sister, Rosalie, food that’s gluten. After all of that gluten in my system, I start getting “sick”. All that means is that I get a belly-ache and lay on the floor watching whatever game dad is playing at the moment. Apparently lying on my belly when I have a belly-ache helps the pain go away. At least I don’t swell up or need an epi-pen. I wish two things that will never come true and I know it won't come true for fact. One: being gluten free is easy. Two: my siblings will stop being annoying like every sibling is.

1^st school year: I’m so excited! Today is the first day of second grade with a new teacher, a new classroom, and new classmates! I have my gluten free home lunch packed. Even though I’m allowed to eat gluten, my mom won’t let me eat gluten at school. At the end of Spring Vacation, Dennis and I have another doctor appointment. We still don’t have celiac disease but, we got put on a “completely gluten free diet”. The doctor told us to not eat something that makes us feel sick. That ‘something that makes us feel sick’ is obviously gluten.

Conclusion: Becoming gluten free is a very important event to me because I haven’t eaten gluten since years ago. It’s not something that I have forgotten after three years. If I had the chance to eat gluten ever again, I would take the chance even if it meant getting “sick”.