I stopped saving the good cheese for later

There was a wedge of good cheese110 kcal in the fridge for almost three weeks. I bought it on a day I felt strong and then kept waiting for an evening that felt worthy of it. An ordinary Tuesday did not count. A tired Wednesday did not count. I told myself I would open it when I had a proper meal around it, when someone was over, or when I had earned a treat.

The cheese started to sweat in its paper. I turned it over and the rind had darkened. That night I cut into it and ate it with bread at the counter because it was either that or throw it away. It tasted exactly like the cheese I had been saving. The only thing that had changed was that it was almost too late.

I had been waiting for a special evening that never came.

Now I eat the good cheese on a plain Tuesday. I eat it with a piece of bread and a little olive oil119 kcal, and I do not build a meal around it first. Saving it until a special night meant the cheese often went bad. I was hungry and it was there.

I had a drawer of other things I was not allowed to have yet. The good olive oil, a jar a friend brought, and a bar of chocolate I bought after a hard week. The oil went rancid before I finished it. I pour it on toast now without checking whether the day measured up. I ate the chocolate a square at a time on ordinary evenings until it was gone. Nothing was lost by eating the good things on the days I already had.

I stopped saving the good food for later and started eating it. I eat the cheese on ordinary days now.