For the last seven months, this 21-year-old girl has been seeing her 23-year-old boyfriend, who has celiac disease.
Due to this, her boyfriend is resolute in his home having no gluten anywhere. Ever. He doesn’t just want his kitchen to be gluten-free; he wants every available space on his property to remain this way as well.
For the record, she does not currently live with her boyfriend as of yet, but that’s obviously something they will plan to do down the line as their relationship progresses.
However, baking is an enormous part of her identity, and it seems she will have to pick her boyfriend over her hobby in the near future.
“Baking bread has been a huge hobby of mine for years; I’ve spent so much time getting better and better to give great homemade pastries and breads to the people I love,” she explained.
On one of the very first dates they went on, her boyfriend wondered if, in the future, she would be happy with a separate kitchen in a hypothetical home; that way, he wouldn’t have to worry about gluten, and she could still be free to bake.
She told him that would be silly, and she knew her boyfriend was saying that to make her happy back then.
He has since realized he doesn’t want to ever live in a house that has to have two kitchens to accommodate them both. In fact, he is uneasy having to consider the thought of living in a home where there is gluten at all.
But, she never came to terms with what giving up gluten would really entail until her friend offered her a prized spot in a pretzel-making class.
She thought it would be pointless, as she will have to give up her hobby when it comes time to live with her boyfriend.
In reality, she desperately wanted to say yes to the class, but there was no use being so excited about something she won’t be able to do for much longer.
“I have had my boyfriend over countless times for dinner, breakfast, etc., and I’ve dedicated an oven in my home to baking his food in there,” she said.
“I make him gluten-free desserts too. I’m very careful with cross-contamination. I’m happy doing what I do now, but I don’t know if I can live like I have celiac disease, the way he wants me to.”
“Knowing there’s a time limit on me baking bread, pizzas, pastries, for myself and the people I love, is so so hard for me. It is such a huge part of my identity.”
Now, she’s left wondering if it’s worth sacrificing baking for her boyfriend. Her boyfriend does a lot for her; he treats her wonderfully, and she is aware that part of being in a relationship is having to compromise at times.
But any time she finds herself baking treats for her loved ones, she can’t help but feel super sad. She is privy to gluten-free recipes, but she says the results and process are not the same as what she creates.
What advice do you have for her?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
