Ode to the Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream Cone at Disney World
a poem
Let's walk down memory lane, shall we?
A dairy allergy in the '90s
was a little risky
and utter misery.
Pizza parties
ice cream parties
Chuck E. Cheese, mac n' cheese,
Dairy Queen, Halloween -
a mockery.
The 'ol McFlurry Machine never worked
for me, oh no,
Jell-o was the height of luxury.
*
In kindergarten I sat at a "special" table (read:
"alone")
away from kids who threw string cheese at me to see if I'd
"explode"
in quarantine decades before ya in 2020
what wonders that worked on my psyche.
For an allergy test, they gave me one (1) Hershey's Kiss
a kiss of death I wheezed, heaved, and hurled.
On bloodwork tests, the extremity of my reaction
on a spectrum scale of green to red
came back in black
& someone said my blood did explode in the petri dish.
One has to admire the vehemence
and admit the string cheese kids were right.
*
New game just dropped: does this have dairy or not?
Tostitos Hint of Lime tortilla chips: do
Oreos (even the unhinged flavors): don't
about half the Pop-Tarts (the good flavors): do
Skippy Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites: do
but pretzels and Skippy are dairy-free?
Confusing.
Oh, and most brands of Plan B
have trace amounts of dairy
and that little trace is enough for me.
Ah, the threatening ambiguity:
May contain dairy.
*
So, this is an ode
to the Tofutti vanilla ice cream cone
that I was able to order on a high school trip to Disney World
and walk around licking, the sweetness dripping
sticky in my fingers in the unforgiving Floridian sun
while I tried my best to keep it together
and just be normal
when I had waited my whole life
to be this normal.
My first non-dairy ice cream cone,
I will never forget you.
This is an ode to
my excitement
in which I think I forgot
to order anything extra
like sprinkles or a cherry on top
because three scoops of vanilla was more than expected
because you arrived as a surprise, which is sacred.
This is an ode to
Maya Angelou
who sagely said,
"Have enough courage to trust love
one more time
and always one more time."
That is how I asked for you
in as small a voice as I could manage
a voice used to tempered expectations
holding back tears
not to be weird!
doubting if it could be real this time
but trusting it could be real this time
and this time
you were mine
and you were joy,
which is sweetness overflowing.
This is an ode to the joy you gave me
cue Beethoven's choral Ninth Symphony:
This is an ode
to having an unwished-for wish fulfilled
to being granted a gift unlooked-for
to having an unhoped-for hope revealed
to simultaneously feeling
so ordinary and so special
to inclusion and innovation,
which is a magical miracle.
*
When that vanilla ice cream cone
got an upgrade by our saviors Ben & Jerry's a few years later -
P.B. & Cookies with the bits of sandwich cookie in the center -
I did cry.
Right there in my boyfriend's Washington D.C. apartment kitchen
holding a spoonful of the most amazing thing I'd ever tasted
remembering the flavor of joy, remembering the afternoon
when three scoops of vanilla, no sprinkles, no cherry
was the new height of luxury
when I got to be, a little late,
a little kid again
About the Creator
Ava Mack
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Comments (9)
This is so moving. Dairy is a hard one to work around, but I know this feeling. I can't have gluten or wheat without dying, and, well, this is precisely how it feels when I find my favorite items available gluten-free. (certified because I'm very allergic)
This is so moving! I'm so glad you got to experience true happiness at Disney World. 🥹 Wonderful ode to Dairy-free ice cream!
So glad we have recognized what food allergies mean and that companies do offer choices. Your expression for those 3 scoops of vanilla is so heartfelt. Well done ♥️ Hearted and subscribed.
Thank goodness people cared enough to recognize how awful allergies can be and fought for labeling laws and alternative food options. Love this ode so very much❤️
I also sat at the allergy table as a kid. Lonely! I'm so glad you had that moment of childlike glee at Disney. Thanks for sharing this, Ava <3
Very moving. So hard as a child to suffer being so different, even in a way that seems like such a small thing to others. 💙 Anneliese
meanwhile all those kids you were jealous of grew up to be dairy addicted people with major hormone imbalances….creating the spectrum of every possible disease that can afflict the human body…. the universe protected you from having to be part of that. It took me 30 years to understand this the hard way! Often what appears our biggest curse, is indeed a blessing! ❤️✨
I can certainly imagine how happy you were having found the non dairy ice cream at Disneyland! I think no teenager would have been happier than you at Disneyland before. Wonderful ode!
Incredible.