Meet Bill, The Cheeseburger in Paradise

Back in January, my family and I went on a trip. I came back and wrote a post about climbing a volcano. You can read it here if you’re interested.

What I didn’t talk about in that post was a highlight of our trip. It was a cheeseburger, and its name was Bill.

We’d just climbed a huge, freaking mountain with lots of stairs. Yes, stairs. It was totally worth it, and the view was spectacular and blah, blah, blah. And by the time we got to the bottom, we were both exhilarated and exhausted, even though it was only about eleven o’clock a.m.. So, we’re in the parking lot, and there’s this enormous yellow truck with a picture of a snow cone on it.

Who wouldn’t want a snow cone after a climb like that in 80 degree weather? But my daughter—you all know her as Happy—didn’t want a snow cone. She needed some protein, and begged for a cheeseburger instead. Which the yellow truck of deliciousness happened to serve.

So, while the rest of us ate ginormous balls of multi-colored snow drenched in sugar, Happy very carefully carried her little white box to the car, where she reverently opened the top and inhaled the heavenly aroma of a freshly grilled burger. “Don’t you just love that smell?” she said.

She then made me take a picture.

As soon as she bit into that thing, she made all kinds of noises that told everyone how absolutely she was enjoying this burger. “Here, mom, take a bite. You’ve got to try this,” she said. And then, “Everyone, I want you to meet my new best friend, Bill.”

I did, and she was right. It was a really great cheeseburger. And I’m not much of a burger eater. Still, as great as it was, I’d have forgotten it by dinner if not for her almost comical insistence that the whole family share in the glory that was…Bill.

We then spent the rest of our vacation looking for a cheeseburger that could measure up. We even paid astronomical amounts to eat at a famous restaurant that was featured on a food network program (I forget which one, probably DDD). But none of the burgers we bought her ever quite measured up.

Bill the cheeseburger will be remembered in our family forever. May he rest in peace.

Oh to be twelve again, with a metabolism that burns through everything!

Check back Monday, for more about Bill.