Allergic Limbo

Limbo (Merriam-Webster) 1. abode of souls that are according to Roman Catholic theology barred from heaven because of not having received Christian baptism 2. a place or state of restraint or confinement 3. a place or state of neglect or oblivion 4. an intermediate or transitional place or state: a state of uncertainty

There are familiar limbos for people dealing with chronic illnesses like food allergies. For some there is the limbo between symptoms and diagnosis (while for others that first frenzy of anaphylaxis reveals too swiftly.) There is the limbo between a mild allergic reaction and the effects of antihistamine. For parents there is the limbo between the hours a holiday or party begins and the moment your child has to cope with their “different food.” And there is the long-term limbo of waiting to find out if they will “outgrow it.”

I’ve grown used to Food Allergy Limbos while raising my son. Now, after writing Feeding Eden, I’m learning the limbos of becoming an author. I was a middle school English teacher before writing my memoir and I loved almost every minute. Mostly, I wrote with my students. I had no aspirations to publish beyond my classroom. But after I stopped teaching, Eden’s story was inside me. And now I’m in final copy edits of it . . . waiting. So there is the intermediate work towards publication in March. There is the work on the marketing strategies (daunting for someone whose public speaking audiences were formerly limited to tweens, not adults.) There is the work on my new website. The new site. I feel like I’m in Internet limbo while my next home base is in development. My final chapter in Feeding Eden is titled New Normal. Like so much of life, New Normal is a place of transitions -- progressive limbo.