Corn

“What is wrong with him?.” Mom said. “No idea.” Dad said. They were talking about my brother, Jacob.

It all started when he was in seventh grade. He got really sick. Like really sick. We had no idea what was wrong.One of the many doctors we went to for answers said that we should go gluten free.

At first we didn’t know what that meant. “That means no wheat, barley, and rye.” The doctor said. “Oh.” Was our response. After he got home the first thing Jacob said to me was ” No cinnamon rolls.

No sweet, delicious, golden brown, cinnamon rolls.” So we tried being gluten free for a while. Then it all came crashing down. It was when I had a soccer tournament. After my last game we went out to eat. My dad had done hours of research about what food my brother could eat that was gluten free.

They decided on a salad. The look on my brother’s face after he atethat salad was wonderful. A giant smile crossed his face. If I left there it would be good, but there’s more. A hour after we ate we were on the road .

Then the dreadful words were spoken by Jacob, ” I don’t fell to good.”” What!!!!” My parents screamed. By this time I was just laying in the car trying to relax after playing soccer for four hours. But that statement sure woke me up. My parents asked Jacob every question. It was like they were the cops and he was the suspect in a interrogation.

Sure enough they were the symptoms of a allergic reaction. We drove home to groans from my brother and whispers from my parents. My dad was the maddest of us all. He had done so much work trying to find something my brother could eat. There was no way there was gluten in that salad.

My fathers face looked like it was going to explode.After our experience with the salad, gluten free started to not work. We went to more doctors and did more tests. Because my brother had really bad headaches, one doctor said we should go to a acupuncturist. We didn’t even have a thought that it would work.

My mom and my brother went and tried it out. After that my brother didn’t have a headache. We had no idea how it worked. They started going more and more but it wasn’t getting rid of all the sickness. One year for memorial day my family had barbecued ribs and corn on the cob.

After that meal my brother got really sick. It had no gluten in it. Could he allergic to soy? We had no idea what was wrong. My mom and brother went to acupuncture and the lady asked what the meal was that made him sick. She thought and then said ” It’s corn that’s making him sick!” ” What! That makes no sense!” My mom replied. But then she thought about it.

What had we eaten? Corn on the cob. What was in that salad? Corn. It did make sense. So much sense. Corn.

Little, nasty, golden yellow, devil. Right after that we went corn free. After a short while my brother started feeling better. It was a miracle. We had found the answer. My brother’s energy and sense of humor started to come back.

It was good to feel like a good family again. Today I have learned two things from this experience. First, I learned from my parents that when you don’t get answers stick with it and you will get answers. Second, I learned from my brother that when things get tough and you don’t fell well, stick with it. You will get better.