Something I do to feel better

One of my best friends is a pint of cherry vanilla ice cream. I don’t eat it but I take it out of the fridge a couple of times a day and talk with it. I hold the pint and share everything that’s on my mind. I feel like the pint of cherry vanilla ice cream listens to me. It hears me. I tell the pint things I’ve never told anyone.

There have been times where I’ve felt really close to the pint of cherry vanilla confection and wanted to take off its lid and eat a spoonful. But I didn’t because I worried I wouldn’t be able to stop and I’d finish it off and have no one to talk with.

I did that once with a jar of Goober Grape PB&J Stripes. It was a combination of peanut butter and grape jam in a jar. I talked with it more often than I do with the ice cream because it didn’t need to be refrigerated or frozen. At night I would hold it next to my heart and whisper my secrets as I fell asleep.

Well, one day I was sharing something sad and I felt like the sweet and salty treat said, “Just take a bit of me and everything’s going to be better.” So I got out a spoon, took off the lid, and I did. I felt better. I like feeling better. So I ate another bite. And another. Until it was all gone. And then my stomach hurt and I had no one to share that with.