I just finished watching Our Friends and Neighbours with John Hamm. I highly recommend it. I finished the last episode yesterday after a busy day and had been saving it as a treat. It delivered. In one of the episodes, Coop (John Hamm’s character) goes to his ex-wife’s milestone birthday party thrown by her current boyfriend. The gift table is full of designer wrapped presents, but his present is in a crumpled paper bag, and this is the present that his ex opens first to discover that it is full of her favourite candy, Fireballs.
When I was young, my Mom would take me to our local library at least once a week. In the summer, we would walk there. The path we took allowed us to walk past 2 convenience stores, which were across the street from one another. We knew both owners, and what treat I could afford or get, determined which convenience store we would be attending.
But the big treat for me, were Fireballs. They were a cinnamon jaw breaker, which would take a while to break, especially because the cinnamon made them so spicy, at least for me and my Mom. And my Mom could eat spicy food. We would often keep our wrappers and place the Fireball back inside to give our mouth a break. It honestly was my favourite candy, but it was expensive. One Fireball was 25 cents. For 25 cents, you could get taffy, penny candy and various gummy candy. So to spend 25 cents for one candy, was a big deal. But it always delivered and made the walk back and forth to the library, which was my home away from home, so much fun.
This week-end, my firm had our retreat at Niagara on the Lake. I have a favourite bakery, where I always buy almond tarts. But as I was ambling along the main strip, I decided to pop into the candy store and asked for Fireballs. I was admonished and told that they are no longer referred to as Fireballs and was directed to the back, where I found a package of candy called, FIREBALLS. Nevertheless, I was super happy. I had not had a Fireball candy in forever. Although the candies were much smaller than when I was a kid, I was eagerly looking forward to that spicy taste of the jaw breaker. After the jaw breaker broke, you would have a wonderful gum to soothe your mouth.
And so I had my Fireball candy……..and it was not the same at all. The cinnamon had been toned down, and the gum inside was not good and I was terribly disappointed.
And I came to realize that I was trying to recreate a memory, which often cannot be replicated. The taste and experience I had with my Mom, who I was missing, is something to be cherished as a memory from the past. I could never fully go back to that happy childhood moment. And with that realization, I tried to enjoy my new Fireball experience.
And it did not deliver.
Sometimes, you can’t go back and that’s OK; the memories sustain us.
But that’s just one Diva’s view!
Diva's View 