Hershey's = Happiness

It doesn't exactly make for healthy eating, but I do love Hershey's chocolate. (Who doesn't?) But I don't enjoy the entire bar. To be precise, I eat just one-fourth of the bar, no more, no less.

Weird?

My three kids and I share one whole bar, so each of us gets one-fourth. It's an informal "tradition" that we've been doing for, let's see... maybe one or two years now. I don't buy Hershey's often because none of us needs the calories, but when I do, we enjoy it at night in front of the TV. Ritual-like, we gather around the coffee table. Then one of us opens the bar and carefully divides it into four, while the other three watch with anticipation. Then we each grab our portion and relish it slowly.

Alden almost always lets the chocolate melt on her fingers, then holds up all five chubby, chocolate-tipped digits for all of us to see and admire. Then she proceeds to lick each finger. Jigme invariably sighs with disgust at the sight. I also protest and say, "Alden, kadiri!" But I'd be laughing inside.

As you can see, it's not really the chocolate, but the ritual that makes it so delicious and enjoyable.

Or is it?