1.23.2002

I was 8 (or so) when Capri Sun hit the market. I remember the sleekness of the design, the wonder of it all -- this new, amazing fruit drink in a silver pouch. The cool kids at school always had them. I remember how they would slam their fist down onto the drink and it would empty its sugary content in one fluid moment through that clear, slender straw. Then they would pick up the pouch, blow into the straw and pretend their drink was full again.

I sat nearby, drinking from my Holly Hobby thermos. It wasn't that I disliked Holly Hobby. I really didn't even mind carrying the thermos to lunch each day. What I minded was staring at the Capri Sun packages stacked neatly in the grocery aisle and knowing, just knowing that I was missing out on something big, something new.

Today I handed my boys a Kool-Aid Jammer for the first time ever. Instantly I was 8 years old again, wide-eyed at the wonder of a new drink, a new anything I've never seen before. They accepted the drinks without much enthusiasm, until I nearly yelped, "The backside is clear! You can see through it!"

Then they stared at me in disbelief. Then they stared at the drinks. Then they jumped around and sloshed the drinks and moved the air bubbles around with their thumbs, smiling like children are supposed to when their mother finds more joy in mass-produced fruit (ha) drinks than anyone on this earth possibly should.

But it's good. Maybe my ability to be amused by common things will filter into them (even just minutely) and when they are older and ideals are crashing down around them, they will still be able to find humor in the way a frog hops, or a calf rambles, or in the design of a new fruit drink. Maybe the stars will never grow too dim for watching and Saturday Morning Cartoons will still carry some intrigue.

I guess I just hope we all save a little space in out hearts to never stop seeing the joy of life, in all things.

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