A Story of Recovery:

Silence is Golden

In FA we often say, “Less is more,” referring to the fact that letting go of food gives us more peace of mind. Sometimes in my house, the less response I get from my family, the more I see the degree to which I am not quite like others when it comes to food.

My son, who doesn’t appear to be a food addict, had baked himself something for breakfast that was topped with sugar. I came along a couple of hours later to find my husband and son working on a project in the dining room. The dirty baking pan was on the stovetop.

I grabbed a spatula and asked my son if he was done with the pan, and he said he was.

I prepared to scrape the pan’s contents into the trash and said, “There’s a bunch of sugary stuff left.” My son and husband just glanced at me.

I commented, “I can’t believe you guys don’t eat all of that.” My son and husband silently glanced at me again.

Then I said, “Back in the day, I would have eaten it,” and was met with an extended glance, with no comment, from my son and husband.

So I scraped the pan and said, “Well I guess this is why I go to meetings three times a week and you two don’t!

I’m always grateful for a reminder of how I see food differently from those around me, and I’m especially grateful that I can laugh at myself when those reminders come.