Sol Food

Dear readers, please forgive me for not blogging this month.  It has been a tough few weeks, including an unexpected trip to the hospital.  I am feeling better now, but I have been in survival mode and have not cooked anything beyond some tuna fish and gluten free toast.  As challenging as this month has been, I have learned a lot about myself and about life.  One major lesson I learned is that I am not in this world alone and that if you allow yourself to be vulnerable and to ask for help- the universe will offer itself up to you.  I always prefer to just take care of myself over having to depend on anyone else for help.  But being sick in the hospital forced me to ask for help, to trust others to take care of me.  And the response I received from my friends, family, and community were endlessly supportive.  Their kind words and bowls of soup filled me with immense gratitude.

Even now that I am feeling stronger and healthier, this lesson still holds true.  My brother and I were in San Rafael looking for a quick dinner before heading to a meditation center.  We stopped in at a tiny little Puerto Rican restaurant called Sol Food.  As soon as I walked in I was charmed by the music playing, the bright aqua walls, black and white family photos, and the pile of plantains sitting on top of the wooden counter.  As I began to scan the menu I noticed the words "wheat free" all over it.  We had no idea it was going to be so allergy friendly; they even have vegan dishes and sugar free sodas.  I ordered the most mouth watering plate of fried shrimp battered in rice and plantain flour- I was in heaven.

Randomly stumbling upon this wheat free place reminded me to trust the universe to give me what I need.  I put so much energy into being a self-sufficient wheat/sugar/dairy free person: making all my own food from scratch, eating before I attend a dinner party, and endlessly researching restaurants and their menus, so that I never have to depend on others and run the risk of not getting the food I need.  But sometimes getting what you need does not have to be so hard, sometimes all you have to do is ask for it.  And sometimes you don't even need to ask for it; it will just appear in the form of a wheat free Puerto Rican restaurant.  And just in case I hadn't ingrained this lesson into my mind enough, later that evening at the meditation center there were tea and cookies available.  I went to get some ginger tea, not even considering the cookies that would undoubtedly have wheat/sugar/dairy in them.  But to my surprise, they had wheat free cookies made from oats and almonds and sweetened with maple syrup.  "Ok, I get it Universe.  Thank you for taking such good care of me!"