Bubble Gum W/C 366

Bubblegum

Sally came waltzing into my room, carrying a deflated beach ball. I was sorting my old baseball cards, relics of my childhood. They don’t give out cards in bubblegum anymore. Does anyone chew bubblegum anymore? Oh well, I thought.

“Grandpa! Watcha’ doin’?”

My princess wore a purple dress with one red tennis shoe and one blue tennis shoe. And a blue baseball cap. Quite the fashionista. But you can do anything and wear anything for Grandpa and still be his princess.

“Hi there, Princess Sally. Just looking at my baseball cards.”

“What’re they?” She climbed up on the couch with me. Her beach ball was forgotten.

“Well, I started collecting these when I was your age. I watched baseball. I liked the players, so I would find their cards in bubblegum packages. Then I would keep the cards I liked, trade with other kids for ones I didn’t have.”

Sally listened intently with all the attention a seven-year-old could muster.

“Then I would keep a list. Write down the ones I needed, keep checking for the new ones. I chewed a lot of gum. My mom wasn’t too happy about that.”

We turned a few pages in the old notebook. Some of the cards in an old shoebox needed to be added to the notebook. The baseball cards brought back faded memories of afternoons spent trading with friends, arguing the merits of one player versus another.

“What’s bubblegum?” Sally’s question brought me back to today.

“You don’t know what bubblegum is?” Of course she didn’t. She is being raised by health-conscious vegans. Time to correct that oversight. “Well, come on. I’ll show you.”

Sally and I walked down to the corner candy store. There we bought some bubblegum.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon blowing bubbles. She is a fast learner. Some of her bubbles were bigger than mine. Of course, the gum kept sticking to my dentures, so I think she had an unfair advantage.


W/C 366

Queen NormaJean