Candy Shop

The other day, Meagan and I were sittinig at the table eating lunch when she looked up at me and said, "Momma, tell me what it was like when you were a kid." I asked her what she wanted to know about. "Anything. Like what did you like to do? or What was your favorite color? Oh, I know! Did you have a wii?"

I had laughed at the thought of having a wii as I thought back to or now seemingly archaic Nintendo entertainment system. But I realized that something much more important was being asked here.

I can remember sitting at my great-grandmother's side as she was well along in her years. She had been affected by strokes, so her speech was very difficult to understand, and her memory was failing her. I would ask her about the people in her photographs or what it was like when she was younger, and either she couldn't articulate, or she couldn't remember. I knew her only as I had experienced her through my childhood - the older lady who couldn't talk well but who loved to go to church and read her Bible. I didn't know anything else about her. And ultimately, when she passed away at the age of 102, her story died with her.

So when my daughter, at the age of six, asks me to begin to tell her my story, I can't ignore that. I don't want the same fate for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren... I don't want them to only know me as the role I play in their life. I am me outside of Mommy, and I would love to share those stories with my children.

So we started talking about some of the things I could remember off-hand. But I decided in that moment to try to make a conscious effort to also document some of those stories that I can remember - big or little.

I started with the first childhood memory that came to mind - the MANY trips to the candy stores that I took with my Grandpa.


"When I think back on stand-out memories from my childhood, one thing instantly comes to mind. On our visits to West Virginia to visit my mom's parents, My grandpa whould take me on trips to the candy stores. Yes, stores, plural. They lived just over the bridge from "downtown" in the tiny little town they lived in (Matoaka). We would walk over the bridge and pass up and down the street, stopping in any little shop that looked promising for candy of any sort. As many stores as I wanted. As much candy as I wanted. Until I said enough. Every single visit. My favorites, at least that I can remember, were circus peanuts, cotton candy, bubble gum, and ring pops. I also loved bits of chocolate, and Sixlettes - these little candy-coated chocolate balls. I don't think I ever actually ate all the candy we bought. But then I guess I always knew it was never really about the candy anyway."

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I've decided to continue scrapping about me from time to time. I may never be able to document All About Me, but I can do Something. Something About Me. That's the plan.

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