Gumball Grandparents
Following
my brother into the dark recesses of his laundry room where he keeps his
computer so that I could print boarding passes for our flight back to Montana,
I saw it. It had been a long time but not forgotten, the gumball machine. In fact,
there were two of them but the original stood intact full of multi colored gum
balls.
Back
in the day that same dispenser of juicy delights was a permanent fixture in my parents’
home. Why they chose to prominently display that mechanical tooth destroyer in
their home is beyond me. Whenever our kids visited their grandparents, the
first thing they asked was “can we have a gum ball?” All it took was a penny
and a twist of the dial to consume that treat. My parents made sure there were
plenty of pennies around to meet the demand.
It
wasn’t long before the kids started calling my parents “grandma and grandpa gumball.”
In order to stop the incessant demand to keep going to their house and play
with the gum ball machine, we bought one of our own. This made matters worse
because we started to find chewed gum everywhere: under tables, on bathroom
sinks and in children and animal hair. Not to mention the cost of dentists.
One
Christmas, Judy embroidered colorful gum balls on two sweatshirts to give to my
parents as gifts. The kids were excited to see that we approved of their gum
consumption by giving such a thoughtful gift. Although they were gracious is
receiving the gift, we never saw them wear the sweatshirts.
There
is a moral to this story. Grandparents beware that what you give your
grandchildren, may be the very label they remember you by. Our grown children
still remember them as Grandpa and Grandma Gumball. Who would have ever thought
that a penny gumball machine would capture the imagination of a generation of
descendants.
Mom
and Dad, thanks for the memories!
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