The actual cherry is such a simple fruit and pretty much availble at all stores, yet I had zero experience with eating cherries until 9 years ago. Of course I have had the jarred cherry in a drink or on a sundae, but never the fresh on the stem cherry. Our visit to Ukraine in 2012 was my first “encounter” with cherries. Toliy and Ivan loved them! They would pick them straight from the trees and eat them. They would also add extra to their pockets for later.

Once we were all back in the states, I really wanted to buy foods for them that they loved and were hopefully “comfort foods.” I learned quickly that you can not always find fresh cherries in NC. When they were in stock I would buy one bag and tell the boys that they had to ration the bag out; you can’t eat the whole bag at once. I would find cherry pits all over the house, it made me crazy! Eat the cherry and put the cherry pit in the trash. Toliy never lost his love for cherries. It was probably one of his favorite foods and something that no one else in the house eats, so it was easy for him to feel that he could ration out the cherries because he was the only one eating them.

So where is this thought leading to? Well two weeks ago I was in Publix and we were totally out of fruit in the house. I pick up watermelon, pineapple and grapes. I turn to walk down the other aisle and there is a big display of cherries. By total natural tendency I pick up the cherries and put them in my cart only to realize, within seconds, that I have no one to buy them for. I quietly place the cherries back in their place on the display and walk away. Moments like these catch me off guard, on any day and at any time.