Those of you who know me, know that I'm extremely passionate about cooking and baking.  So for me, this time of year is truly magical; people that don't normally obsess about food preparation, catch the spirit of the holidays and wander into home and kitchen stores in search of inspiration.  One of the things I'm thankful for each year, is that I get to meet many of those people at the Williams Sonoma store where I work part-time. 

I traditionally only work one day a week, but this time of year I'm in the store more often.  While this challenges my physically energy levels, the boost to my spirit and my mental state is well worth the fatigue and pain -- even if that means I don’t have the energy to post all the recipes I’ve been testing.  I’m doing my best to get those typed, proofread and posted. 

For those of you that don't know me well, I'll shorten the story as much as possible.  My celiac disease was misdiagnosed most of my life.  It wasn't until I had been VERY ill for a number of years, in a wheelchair being treated for chronic fatigue, severe fibromyalgia and undergoing tests for a suspected case of rapidly progressive MS, that an alternative medicine “investigative” blood test revealed a possible cause: whole grains. Further research led me to an obscure research paper about celiac disease and I was convinced I’d found the answer.  I adopted a gluten free diet and saw some immediate improvement within a few weeks.  I was fortunate enough to eventually find a doctor willing to consider celiac disease as the root cause of my conditions.  I was eventually diagnosed via biopsy by Dr Peter Green and that changed my life.

I went gluten free right before Thanksgiving many years ago.  So Thanksgiving for me symbolizes a great deal more than mere tradition. For those of you that have not met me, I’m no longer in a wheelchair and I have seen a great deal of improvement in my health.  I still deal with lingering effects of the damage and the resulting CFIDS, FM and nerve damage, but hope is all that you’ll see when you meet me - especially at this time of year.  I can’t help but be thankful.