I hope you’ll read about my love affair with Dairy Queen. Spoiler alert: the story ends with free cream for everyone. 🍦

I was a teenage Dairy Queen cook. Everything I did and everything I bought when I was 18 — including loads of concert tickets — was thanks to Dairy Queen. Even better, I actually loved the job.

Dairy Queen always felt a little different from other fast-food spots. Things seemed fresher and a bit more homemade. We even made the onion rings from scratch right there in the kitchen. For a kid who wasn’t getting much to eat at home, Dairy Queen also filled the stomach of one very hungry teenage boy on more than a few occasions.

Then came the Blizzard.

About six years after I left D.Q., the company introduced the Blizzard, and it changed the ice-cream game completely. Suddenly you had this thick, perfectly blended mix of soft serve and candy that was so dense they could turn the cup upside down to prove it wouldn’t fall out. There’s still nothing quite like a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

But even the Blizzard wouldn’t work without a great foundation. Those treats are only as good as the base that holds them together — Dairy Queen’s famous soft serve. And honestly, I don’t know the last time you just grabbed a plain old Dairy Queen cone, but chances are it’s been too long.

Now for the fairy-tale ending.

Dairy Queen is celebrating Free Cone Day on March 19, which just happens to be the first day of spring. Walk in and you can grab a free small vanilla cone — no purchase required. Just remember, it’s one per person, and at participating D.Q.s.

Read More: How Godzilla Plans To Wreak Havoc Across Texas Cities

So if you see a grown man grinning like a teenager while holding a soft-serve cone… well, that’s just me reliving my Dairy Queen glory days. 🍦