My name is Yehuda. I am 7 years old and I live in Bergenfield. I like to do things that most kids like to do.   I love to play sports like other kids and with Lego.

But there is one thing that makes me feel different from other kids.  I have food allergies.  I cannot eat eggs, chicken or turkey.  I don’t mind so much about not being able to eat chicken or turkey.  I just would really love to have eggs. Eggs are in a lot of things like cakes, cookies, donuts, ice cream, bread, kugel and even candy!!!! That’s why not having things made with eggs is really difficult for me!!!

You might wonder what happens if I eat those foods by accident.

Sometimes nothing will happen but I could stop breathing, chas vishalom. That actually happened to me one time…..

My family and I went on a vacation.  By accident, my mother had given me a cupcake that had egg in it. Within two minutes my stomach started hurting, I started coughing, my face turned all red and I could not breathe. My mom realized that the cupcake had egg in it!!! We were lucky that we noticed an ambulance right down the block from where we were standing and ran there.

The man in the ambulance quickly took us inside and he put tubes in my nose.  This gave me oxygen to help me breathe. I was a little scared but I did not cry. The ambulance took us to a hospital. The doctors gave me medicine and they made me stay there for a few hours until I was able to breathe better.

Now my mother carries with her something called an EpiPen. This is a special shot with medicine inside of it that will help me if I am ever having trouble breathing like that again.

I feel different because a lot of kids will eat things with eggs and I can’t have any. When I go to a birthday party or have a class party  in school I always need to find out if the food has eggs in it. Many times my friends remember that I have allergies and will make sure that I have something to eat at their parties. It’s so nice when they remember but I understand when they don’t.  For many parties I will just bring in my own special cookies from home so that I know that I have something to eat too just in case the foods have eggs. Now that I am able to read I have also learned how to check ingredients on different foods.   Sometimes I feel so jealous of the other kids because they can eat whatever they want and I can’t. Sometimes I feel sad because the food that everyone else is eating looks really good and I would like to have it too but I know that I am not allowed.

My parents tell me that Hashem made everyone different. Some kids are really good at math and some kids aren’t. Some kids are good at sports and some kids aren’t. There are some kids that can’t walk. There are some kids that are very shy and there are some kids that are very loud. Everyone is unique. I know that Hashem made me very special. I am lucky that I am healthy, I have a nice family and everyone says that I am cute.

So even though I don’t understand why Hashem gave me allergies I try not to get upset. I try to be happy with what I do have and just live with it. This is why I want to share my story. I want other kids to know that sometimes you might feel jealous of other kids because they might have things that you don’t have. Just try to stop and think about what Hashem did give you and be thankful for what you have and you will be a happier person.

By Yehuda Pfeiffer