Thank Goodness For Soy Lattes

Our culture is awakening, however slowly, to the 'special needs,' as my family refers to mine, of sensitive stomachs. A half hour drive from my house is a large farm market called Soergel's. They have an entire building of dairy and gluten-free foods with everything from pizza, pasta and bread to waffles and soy ice cream. 

It isn't cheap, but thankfully my mother, who is more excited by our trips to the market than I am, buys me whatever my once bloated, now trim tummy desires. "How about this...or maybe some of these?" She asks, eagerly buzzing around the store. They are brands I've never heard of, but most of the food is purely decadent in its lack of ravenous wheat, rye, barley and lactose. I can even find a few shelves full of gluten-free foods at most Wal-marts, and some Giant Eagle's.  

With my estrangement from dairy being recent, I'm not yet entirely familiar with the do's and don'ts, and what my alternative options are. One thing I had loved, and given up, was green tea lattes from Starbucks. As I mourned the loss of my beloved drink while my mother and sister suggested a trip to the coffee chain the other day, two words appeared in the black space behind my forehead like chalk on a blackboard: soy latte. "Hey, Starbucks has soy lattes," I said matter of factly, my lips parting and spreading wide. "Oh my goodness! How did we not think of that?" My mother shrieked.

As I sipped my soy green tea latte, its taste similar to that of a waffle cone, the sweet combination of vanilla and green tea lathered my taste buds and lapped the insides of my cheeks. I was instantly and viscously thankful for everything edible, lovely to taste, and yet gentle enough for me to consume. 

Sip after glorious sip, I waited for my insides to churn, tumble and grumble, but they remained calm and undisrupted, like the difference between a lake on a clear day and a sea caught in the grip of a storm.