Peppermint Candy

I don’t particularly like those hard, round peppermint candies, but I LOVE soft peppermint candy that just kind of melts in your mouth. I was introduced to that soft kind of peppermint when I was a child and we would go to Brantley to visit Mama’s aunts and uncles. There was a little store in Brantley that sold that candy out of a big jar. Mama would give us some money and we would walk down to the store and get a paper sack full of peppermint sticks. It was the only time I got that candy. I was in heaven.

One Saturday, we were in Brantley at Uncle Reese and Aunt Sissy’s house. I could always find plenty to do when we visited there. Aunt Sissy would let me do all kinds of things that just didn’t happen in the city. I got to gather the eggs and I was pretty good at it after I got to know the chickens. Some of them were temperamental and a little on the mean side. We won’t even talk about the rooster. The eggs were brown and I was amazed. I just assumed they were brown because they were “country” eggs instead of “city” eggs. Had no idea the color depended on the color of the chicken’s “ears” until Uncle Reese explained it to me. I got quite an education in Brantley. That’s where I learned how to make mayonnaise – I even have my own mayonnaise maker. Have you ever seen one? Here is mine:

The reason I got sent to the store for candy on one of our trips was because of my lizard catching skills. I do NOT like lizards. At all. But, as a kid, I was pretty impressed with them. And I was an expert at catching them without breaking their tails. Aunt Sissy was opposed to giving me any of her canning jars to use as a lizard house. I had to improvise. The only thing I could find was a brown paper sack. So, I put my lizard inside, twisted the top as tightly as I could, and put it on the table in the kitchen just about the time we were getting ready to eat. Mama asked me what I had in the sack and I told her. She very calmly said, “Well, please take your lizard back outside.” And I said, “Oh, Mama, it’s all right. He’s not scared!” That is how -  on that particular day - I ended up with a dollar in my hand and my brother to escort me to the store.

So . . . I would often sit in Uncle Reese’s lap, eating my peppermint sticks and listening to everything the grown-ups were saying. I loved hearing those conversations and had a great time trying to figure out what they didn’t want me to know. Every now and then, Uncle Reese would ask for a bite of my peppermint stick. He only did it to aggravate me. He loved to tease me, but I was pretty serious about my peppermint. I would share with him, but barely. I would hold the peppermint for him to take a bite, but I had a special way to position it so that he could take just the tiniest bite possible. I sure was greedy.

Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t dole out His blessings the way I shared that candy?! Selfish little me wanted it all. But, God wants what is best for us and He gives it to us in abundance. Even better, He knows what we need, whether we know it or not, and guides us every step of the way.

I do not like this radiation that I am having for the next couple of months. But I am very thankful that God uses doctors and medicine as His instruments while He provides the healing. He knows we need something tangible, something to do while we wait for His healing. How blessed I have been on this journey to have the comfort of a loving God.

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 123:3

P.S. Since the week I started chemotherapy, eating has been a little bit of a challenge. My one and only criteria for whether or not I eat something is very simple. If it makes me gag, I don’t eat it. Otherwise, I eat it because everything pretty much tastes the same and I have to eat something. Once I can eat sweet stuff without puking, if I can find any of that peppermint candy, I am stocking up! I highly recommend it.