Scary List

Alex and I reached a milestone in our marriage yestserday. We have great news.

WE ATE PORK CHOPS FOR DINNER.

For many years, I have avoided eating pork and some pork products - not due to any real medical condition (well, if you consisder mental illness medical, then I guess it was medical), but becaue I had at some point during my college years decided pork and pork products made me break out in itchy red splotchies all over.

I'm open to the fact that my very first 'break out' could have been caused by something else, some other outside element I failed to consider, however, the splotchies were real, my experience was real and it happened on more than a few occassions thereafter when I'd been opened minded and consumed pork. From that point on, I had determined in my mind I was allergic to pork and pork products (even though I ate sausage & pepperoni pizza without any issues).

About a week ago, we took a Maidy/Buzzard trip to Marietta OH for the 4th of July holiday. We were offered BLT's for lunch.

I took the plunge. I didn't want to be a fickle/picky guest, and also, I remembered that I had not broken out or died two Christmas' ago when Alex prepared a ham for Christmas dinner. Quite the oppposite, I remembered enjoying the honey ham.

I'd decided soggy bacon, or fatty tasting bacon, come hell or high water, I would be gracious and eat what was offered me. To my pleasant surprise, the bacon was made to order in the microwave - crisp and delicious. it did not taste fatty. It tasted great. This experience lead me to comment over this past weekend to Alex that I may be open to trying some more pork in the near future.

My family and friends just smirked when they heard i'd eaten real pork and liked it (just like they'd always told me I would and that I did NOT suffer from swine allergies).

I gathered a lot of courage from my recent experience with pork. I can knock pork off the 'scary' list. Of course, there's still the squeemish feeling I get in the pit of my being for other 'scary' list foods....like bloody steaks (yuck!) or Alex's runny eggs.