It could be anything: an exceptional new TV show, a delicious new cereal, or an oh so comfortable bra style. If I liked it, if I enjoyed it, if I wanted another, whatever it was would be doomed to cancellation or discontinuation.

Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to me so many times, I feel like a jinx. I’m afraid to like anything for fear of putting it in the crosshairs of termination.

While on winter vacation in Florida last year, it happened again. After nearly two months, Macho Guy and I reached the Key Lime Pie saturation point and went to Fresh Market in search of something—anything—different for dessert.

We were about a week from leaving for home and were trying to use up all the food left in the refrigerator and freezer, so we concluded it was best to keep it simple and go with that dependable old standby ice cream. In the interest of not having to throw out anything we didn’t eat, we decided to buy only one carton of ice cream.

Of course that meant selecting only one flavor. Uh-huh. You get the picture.

Macho Guy is a Butter Pecan man. I’m into any flavor as long as it is Chocolate. Would there be a duel to the death in the frozen food aisle—half-gallon ice cream cartons at ten paces? Neither of us was willing to surrender. A week and a half of dessertless dinners loomed on the horizon.

Usually when Macho Guy and I can’t agree on something, the rule is that we settle for a second or third choice that neither of us is particularly excited about but is willing to accept in the name of compromise. Ice cream flavors are an important exception to this rule. Taste buds are involved. One cannot settle for second or third best when it comes to ice cream. Our taste buds would rise in revolt.

Macho Guy blinked first. He threw up his hands in frustration, told me to get whatever I wanted, and walked away from the freezer section in a snit. I beat back the impulse to do a victory dance and was about to reach for the Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Fudge when my conscience got the better of me.

Tsk, tsk. Thinking only of yourself. Is that how your parents raised you? For shame.

Oh, shoot. Just once, couldn’t I be a little bit naughty? Darn that conscience.

I sighed and virtuously went back to perusing additional selections to find a flavor both Macho Guy and I could live with. That’s when I spotted the winning candidate on the freezer shelf. There it was, a new flavor, one I’d never seen or heard of before—Mocha Almond Fudge.

It had to be delicious with a name like Mocha Almond Fudge. It had to be delectable with a name like Mocha Almond Fudge. It had to be decadent with a name like Mocha Almond Fudge. Not only that, it had both nuts and chocolate in it—something for both of us.

I yanked the freezer door open, grabbed the half-gallon of Mocha Almond Fudge, stowed it in my shopping cart and hunted Macho Guy down. He was still sulking like a two-year-old when I pulled up beside him at the Deli section’s olive bar and announced that I was all done shopping and ready to check out.

MACHO GUY: [with an air of martyrdom] Okay, what did you get?

ME: [coyly] Something different I wanted to try.

MACHO GUY: [peering into the shopping cart] What’s that?

ME: [bubbling with excitement] Mocha Almond Fudge.

MACHO GUY: [snorting derisively] I thought you said you got something different. Fudge is chocolate.

ME: [taken aback] Not just fudge—Mocha Almond Fudge. [reading from the description on the carton] “Coffee ice cream accented with chopped roasted almonds and a rich chocolate sundae sauce.” Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?

MACHO GUY: [unenthusiastically] I guess.

We had it for dessert that night. It tasted even better than its name sounded rolling off my tongue. We both loved it. We both had seconds. We both agreed that I was a genius for finding it.

We finished the half-gallon in a few days. We rushed back to Fresh Market to buy more. There wasn’t any.

Please, not again. I liked it a lot—loved it—so it’s gone forevermore. Why was I not surprised?

Disappointed, we left Fresh Market and stopped at a Publix supermarket on the way back to our rental condo. Ever hopeful, I was drawn to the frozen foods section to check out the ice cream. I scanned the ice cream freezer and—it couldn’t be, could it? Yes! It was! Blue Bell Mocha Almond Fudge—there on the shelf. I rejoiced—the jinx had been broken. Halleluiah! I couldn’t grab it fast enough.

We returned to Michigan in March, and I went grocery shopping on our second day home. I filled my cart with necessities and then headed for the frozen desserts. I scanned the ice cream freezers. Rocky Road. Moose Tracks. Chunky Monkey. Um, where was the Mocha Almond Fudge? I wasn’t seeing it. I scanned the freezers again, certain I must have missed it. I didn’t. I should have known it wouldn’t be there. I rejoiced too soon. The jinx had not been broken after all.

I refused to give up in spite of that initial setback. I searched and searched but couldn’t find Mocha Almond Fudge in any grocery or supermarket in my area of Michigan. It finally occurred to me that I could hunt for it more easily and efficiently online.

Yes! I found the Blue Bell Ice Cream website. I found Mocha Almond Fudge. I found joy. May God bless you, Google!

Uh-Oh. Now this couldn’t be good. Blue Bell distributes its ice cream in only 20 states. Michigan isn’t one of them. Bummer to the nth degree.

I reluctantly began to accept that Blue Bell Ice Cream is a southern thing and I would only get to enjoy Mocha Almond Fudge for the two months out of the year when Macho Guy and I winter in Florida. How unfair is that? ::sigh::

Hold on. I may have been too hasty. There were more results to check out.

Oooo! Dreyer’s/Edy’s Grand makes Mocha Almond Fudge and a Kroger store not far from me in Michigan carries it. Yay! Yippee! W00t! Dare I say “Halleluiah” again?

At last, my dessert quest reached a successful conclusion. Victory is so sweet. As Winston Churchill once said: “Never, never, never give up.” I’m glad I didn’t because now I can enjoy Mocha Almond Fudge in both Florida and Michigan.

Persistence may be its own reward, but I think I’ll reward myself with a dish of Mocha Almond Fudge. Care to join me? Just google it for a store near you that carries it. Your taste buds will be glad you did.