The text was from the Illinois Department of Human Services, saying SNAP benefits for November would not be distributed because of the government shutdown. My stomach dropped before I even finished reading the message.
Once you’ve known true hunger, your body will always remember.
My wife and I have three kids whom we homeschool, which means every meal happens at home. That’s three meals a day, seven days a week. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Our regular SNAP allotment doesn’t cover everything, but it provides most of what ends up on our table. When it’s gone, I have to get extra creative by remixing leftovers, figuring out substitutions, visiting the food pantry and hoping what we have holds out until the end of the month.
November makes this even more challenging. Thanksgiving is coming, a whole holiday revolving around food, and my daughter turns 16 the same week. This news makes those upcoming days of celebration feel more like a complicated math problem than a joyful occasion. I need to make something special happen when there’s already not enough.
