Thank You, Candy

Thank you,  Spaghetti-O's. We don't eat you anymore, but you were our first vegetarian delight.

Thank you, Bird's Eye frozen peas. We don't eat you anymore. But you were a hell of a lot better than canned spinach. At first we hid you under our mashed potatoes, but then we liked you, and you nourished us.

I would say, thank you Wonder Bread, if it was politically correct and gluten free. You played your role. There was a time we needed all the carbos our little bodies could wolf down. You were the wife of peanut butter. You tasted wonderful with balogna and ketchup, and after all, ketchup is still regarded as a vegetable in public schools.

And finally, before their names are forever lost, like Sumerian gods, I would just like to thank Adam's Black Jack gum and Bazooka, Moon Pie Single Deckers and Tasty Cakes, Necco Candy Buttons and Mary Janes, Nestle's Snow Caps, Good and Plenties, Fizzies, Flavor Straws, and especially Tootsie Pops, in whose cherry luscious lolly center some frikkin' genius placed a wad of chocolate like the jewel in the lotus.

I loved you candy, I just want you to know that. Even though you were not Ayur Vedic or good for dental hygiene, when I was with you, I was truly present.

You gave me time to chew, to trust the sweetness of this moment, to find happiness brightly wrapped in simplicity.

Food has never been so pure.