For the longest time, grocery shopping day has always been a vital part of my family’s ritualistic weekly routine. Throughout the years, it’s been a consistent challenge for the deli counter employees to slice the cheese thin enough to meet my mother’s expectations, and from the time I was very little, my mom has always requested the cheese to be “Sliced Thin,” just the same as it’s prepared at a Jewish deli. This piece in particular serves to memorialize the first shopping trip following my stomach surgery when I was instructed to go someplace where I could walk slowly, pacing myself and ensuring my stitches stayed intact, before I returned to gymnastics. My mom and I walked up and down the grocery store aisles, again and again, slowly but surely inching toward my recovery.