I’ve been in a diet group for quite awhile, and the leader of the group always talks about how we perceive food. Food, she explains, shouldn’t be used as a reward or as a celebratory focus.

Well, sometimes you just have to throw that advice to the wind.

Stella loves Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. She can’t eat it all the time since she is sensitive to the cold after treatment. It’s one of the luxuries in her life these days when she feels well enough to eat her favorite food.

So, yesterday, when she received dance-in-the-rain and sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs good news, I couldn’t wait to get to her house to hug her.

Unloading my groceries before going to her house, I realized that I missed it. I should have bought some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to bring to her house in celebration. Should I now turn around and go back to the grocery store, ten minutes from home, before going to see her?

Deciding I didn’t have enough time for that plan, I stopped, instead, at our local grocery store. Now, in 7 and a half years of living in Neve Daniel, I have never – not once – seen Ben & Jerry’s in our store. We just don’t sell it. So, I figured I’d pick up a second-rate ice cream and that she would appreciate the gesture, if not the taste.

As I ran into the store, I just knew that I would find exactly what I needed. And there, in the ice cream section was ONE – and only one – container of Ben & Jerry’s. The New York Super Fudge Chunk was just sitting there, all by itself, with Stella’s name on it.

It wasn’t there on Sunday when I was in the store, and it probably won’t be restocked.

But Monday? When Stella got her news? Oh yeah, the Super Fudge Chunk was sitting tall and waiting for me to grab it.

Nothing like the sweet taste of delicious, celebratory ice cream.

And nothing in the world like the feeling of news that gives you hope.