Take a seat, and wear your seat-belts tight. This is going to be a long ride down Cheeseville. See, cheese is a vague topic. It really matters what quality you want in your life. You’ve got the weird maggot cheese, and you’ve got the gourmet Gouda. There’s a whole sea of cheeses to dive into and you could die before you even get to the center of it. You could find your cheese on the first try, and you might have to taste your way through hundreds of cheeses before you get there, but once you find the cheese that you are destined to find, there can be no other cheese to fill your tummy quite like your cheese.
I know how the first cheese tasting moment goes down. You’re excited about the first bite. You’ve got your palette all cleansed from the last time you tasted a bad cheese and you’re ready to get things going. You’re all nervous- what if this cheese is just the same old cheese? What if this one is just going to let you down like all those other cheeses? You gulp down a nervous giggle and take a good look at what’s in front of you. Well, this one’s different, and it’s not just the presentation. You feel it inside; this cheese has got some special fermentation going on.
You take a little piece of it and look closely. And about this time you realize that it doesn’t smell. Mental high five! Now you sit back and enjoy the aroma of it, just let it sink in. You like how it is equally as ripe as it is fresh. You like how well balanced it is. Now you don’t want to let the cheese know you like it, you need to test some other cheeses too. What if there’s something else you like? So you put the piece back to the plate and look around. C’mon now, don’t be shy. You’re only being rational here.
Well, you’ve looked around and there’s no cheese quite like that one cheese. Yes, the cheese that has your nostrils on fire. You get back to it and hold it in your hands. And you hold it with both your hands. The cheese deserves it. You may even give it a few loving strokes, you know, just so it knows you dig it. Let the moment freeze, let there be no one but the two of you- the cheese and you, you, and the cheese.
You’ve had your fun and games, and you’re really liking your romance with your cheese. And you think that you two could be compatible. Now comes the most anticipated moment of your life. The moment of truth. The one time you shall know for sure- the cheese tasting ceremony. You pick the cheese up, close your eyes, pray for the best, and take a quick bite. And you let the taste take over. Oh and take over it does. The heaven might as well just shut down because you got it right here in your taste buds. You have fallen in cheesy love and you love it.
Life has been good for you. It has showered you with the presence of magical cheese and you have let yourself immerse into the heavenly goodness of it. You might want to take a little time and think back at all the other cheeses that will never compare, and you cannot help but feel blessed right then and there. And that my friend, is the moment you know you have found the cheese of your life. You have found the one cheese that is going to be right there with you through thick and thin, through all the hard days and the good ones. You wake up to its aroma and sleep with it in your tummy. Life couldn’t be better.
It’s been a while, and you and your cheese are livin’ it up, la Vida. But lately, you notice that the cheese isn’t really giving it’s best for you. It’s just sitting there in the kitchen not making any effort to drive you crazy with its great aroma. And one day you wake up, look in the mirror and realize to your horror that you have gained a muffin top! That’s all the cheesy goodness right there in your belly! You admit to yourself that you may have gone quite overboard with your love for this cheese. You may need some alone time, you know, just to get some areas of your life back to balance. So now comes the dreaded stage – the necessary withdrawal.
You are reluctantly leaving home your beloved cheese and going out to have fun with your friends. Sure the cheese will be fine, you have a welcoming fridge. It won’t get lonely. But you sure will. You cannot wait to go back home and just about do anything, as long as it is with your cheese. But you don’t, because you know you need this. You need to take your mind off of everything that has been going on. And before you know it, you’re actually having fun. You feel new, you feel great, and you want to try something new. Maybe that new kind of cheese over there, definitely something you haven’t seen before. Maybe you should go sit next to it.
But you don’t. Because you know your cheese is sitting home faithful, waiting for you to get back home. Your cheese may have been getting lazy lately, and it is not the best thing for your weight, but hey! Do you remember the first time you saw it, the first real moment you really felt like there was a connection between you two? Yes and that new cheese over there has got nothing on your cheese! Cue the slow sweet tune of realization, you’ve actually found true love! You run back home and cuddle with your cheese. You kiss it and you tell it you love it and there is nothing quite like it. You do it because your cheese deserves to be told so.
Your cheese and you may have flaws, but doesn’t everything else in this entire world? You know that you want this cheese in your life and you are willing to work at it. You know that your cheese will always be there because it loves you too. You have found each other in this scary world, and together you shall stay, one small bite at a time!
You see, cheese is a lot like love. You take a small step forward and you take a few more and before you know it, you’ve fallen over. Love is just as addicting as that savory cheese, reeling you in with everything it’s got. You will want to give it up, but you won’t. Coz it’s just that good! Consider this an ode to the love of my life, the apple of my pies, and the truth in a world full of lies. I know, I know. I’m going to come off real cheesy here, but when you look at it my way, life is all but a giant yummy pizza. And what’s pizza without cheese?