Getting the Facts Instead of Spilling the Tea

by Angela Sanford

   For a quick chuckle to close out Celiac Awareness Month, let me share the unforgettable moment I first revealed my diagnosis.

   It was late fall of 2009, and I was directing our local teenage drama club as we prepared for what felt like the adventure of a lifetime — travelling to Scotland the following summer to perform at the Fringe Festival.

   By that point, this group of students had become like family. Honestly, there were weeks I spent more time with them than with my actual family. They knew I had been struggling with my health for quite some time. The medications weren’t helping anymore, the migraines had returned with a vengeance, and I was living in a constant haze of exhaustion and brain fog.

   Then, finally, came the answer: I had Celiac disease.

At our next rehearsal and planning session, I shared the news with the group. I explained that I had learned I had Celiac and that it would mean some major lifestyle changes. I didn’t go into great detail — partly because I was still trying to understand it myself and partly because explaining gluten to teenagers in 2009 felt like trying to describe Wi-Fi to someone in the 1800s.

   But it quickly became clear that I should have offered a little more clarification.

   Not long after rehearsal ended and parents had picked everyone up, I received a heartfelt message from one of the mothers expressing her sincere concern regarding my recent diagnosis of… syphilis.

   Yes. Syphilis.

   Needless to say, I immediately called her, and somewhere between hysterical laughter and gasping for air, I clarified that I did NOT have syphilis — I had Celiac disease.

   Thankfully, she laughed just as hard as I did, and the story quickly became a long-running inside joke within our drama group. But it also became a vivid reminder of how easily information can be misunderstood once it starts travelling from person to person.

   And honestly, that lesson feels more relevant than ever lately.

   Too often, we hear a fragment of information, assume the details, and then pass it along as fact — especially when emotions, speculation, or a little bit of “tea” are involved.    Lately, I’ve seen this happen repeatedly surrounding rumours and discussions about education cuts, where assumptions sometimes spread faster than actual facts.

   Misunderstandings can be frustrating, harmful, though, occasionally, hilarious — depending on whether the rumour involves gluten or sexually transmitted infections.

   But the reality is this: if that mother hadn’t reached out to me directly for clarification and had instead shared her “news” with others, that misunderstanding could have spread quickly and unfairly, with serious ramifications.

   Sometimes the best thing we can do before passing along the tea… is check the label on the box first, because once the recipe is out of the kitchen, it rarely comes back as the orginial.