“I was at a daycare, and I was forced to eat cottage cheese.

I kept saying I didn’t like it, and I got very sick after eating it. I found out I was lactose intolerant, so after that happened, I wrote off all cheese.

I probably went 18 years without eating cheese.

It was normal for me to order pizza without cheese, so I would order bread and sauce. Or people would have nachos, and I would just have chips and toppings. I was looked at differently when I was younger for doing that, but it was a personal choice.

When I met [my husband], he made it his mission to get me to like cheese. We started with simple cheeses, like mozzarella and cheddar. I stayed like that for a long time, probably seven [or] eight years. If I had the option, I would still get things without cheese.

Then I met a group of friends, [who] were from South Africa and France. French people are very into their cheeses. [My friends] would eat cheese, meat, and bread for a meal, and they also made it their goal to get me to eat cheese.

I started branching out to what people would call “crazy cheeses.” In 2019, while in Hawaii, I decided I liked blue cheese, which is weird [because] it’s a very distinct type of cheese.

To this day, my two favorite cheeses are blue cheese and goat cheese. I’m super into cooking and I like to use cheese a lot in [my] foods [because] it adds depth and a special component to pasta, salads, and appetizers.

I still will not eat cottage cheese. I’ve tried it three or four times, but just the sight of it makes me physically ill. My husband loves cottage cheese [and] he eats it all the time, but I can’t even be around him when he does.

Overall, I’m glad that I’ve changed. You don’t meet [many] people who swear off food for such a long time.