Bubble Gum

Grandma T loved chewing gum. She said that would be the treat that Papa would bring her when they went on a date—a piece of Wrigley’s spearmint chewing gum. She always kept the large packs in the upper drawer of Papa’s dresser and would dole me out a tiny piece every afternoon after our nap. I would chew that piece of gum and feel so grown up while I drank Dr. Pepper with my grandma. We’d often play dominos or cards during that time…chewing, talking and having that nice, quiet time before dinner preparations have to start. You always had to spit your gum out in a napkin and throw it away. Naked gum was not allowed in Grandma’s house.

Papa M also loved chewing gum. He kept big boxes of the 3 cent bubble gum—the kind with the blue, yellow and pink wax paper wrapper that’s twisted on the ends—to tempt us kids to hang around and talk to him. We’d grab handfuls of the gum and put as many pieces in our mouths at one time as we could. We’d chew and drool and laugh, which only made us drool more. I remember sometimes that gum would be so hard that you couldn’t bite into it without feeling like your jaw would break. I always thought it was funny how sometimes the pieces would be smaller or taste slightly different or be really hard—but they always looked exactly the same. I wonder why that is.

When I would go to town with Grandma and Papa T we would go to the grocery store. If I’d been good, Grandma would buy me a pack of Fruit Stripe gum. I could barely contain myself until we got home so I could open it up. I love opening up each piece and laying them all out on the table and looking at the bright pretty colors. I would smell them individually and take a tiny bite out of each one to see what tasted better. I wanted that gum to be perfect because the commercials were always so funny with brightly colored animal, especially the zebra, escapading around in brightly colored landscapes that didn’t look like anything I’d seen anywhere—even in comic books or cartoons. But Fruit Stripe Gum didn’t taste good. The gum was hard and brittle and wasn’t very chewy and the flavor ran out within a couple of chews. Nothing like Juicy Fruit which could last for at least 20 minutes…if you took your time and chewed slowly.

I have a problem with gum, though. My tongue is forked because I was born tongue tied and they had to perform an operation to rebuild my tongue when I was a baby. I could never blow real bubbles because mine would always have this thick piece in the middle that would separate an ordinary looking bubble into two humps—looked like a cell dividing. This was very distressing as a kid because I could never compete in the bubble blowing contests because my bubbles always popped early. I did enjoy trying to make the biggest bubble possible, though. I remember that 3 cent gum would sometimes pop surprisingly and you’d have gum stuck to your face and cheeks. One my friends got it in her eyelashes. That was pretty funny.

I took to blowing bubbles inside my mouth and popping them against my cheek. It was a very annoying habit that almost got me sent to the principal’s in high school.

Gum and braces didn’t get along either. Junior high sort of broke my chewing gum habit because I couldn’t chew regular gum and be able to get it out of the wires, so I tried sugar free but I didn’t like it. It was so hard. Gum should be soft and smooth to be appreciated properly.

I no longer chew gum. It hurts my jaw. Probably all those days of shoving 3 cent bubble gum in my mouth and trying to chew. I kind of miss it though. It was a special time shared between friends and grandparents and seemed harmless enough.