Fizzies

One of the joys of old age is being able to draw upon a vast number of life memories, accurate or otherwise. I am quite sure most of my recollections fall into the otherwise category but joy number two of old age is that most folks aren't listening so it doesn't matter if my memories are a bit discombobulated.

A recent discussion with a few of my younger friends revolved around favorite drinks when we were growing up. Elixers such Orange Crush, Dr. Pepper and Root Beer popped up as sweet memories. Not to be outdone I offered up one of my favorite treats, Fizzies. Silence. More silence. It was evident that I had mined too far back in my memory bank for this crowd. Of course, I took it upon myself to let them know what they had missed in the world of enhanced liquids. After my explanation, most of them said they would stick with Fresca.

My memory of Fizzies is truly more about the circumstances than the drink itself. One highlight of my life as a kid on the farm was lunch time (note: lunch was the mini-meal between the noon meal, dinner, and the evening meal, supper). On many occasions my grandfather would join us at the table and we all clamored for his attention. One fun activity we shared with him was selecting our favorite Fizzie drink and ceremoniously preparing it. A Fizzie was a quarter-sized surgary tablet that could be dropped into a glass of cold water and it would fizz its way into a sweet drink. We loved watching the bubbles form around the tablets and we always hoped our tablet would be the fastest to dissolve so we could be the first one to taste our drink. Grape, cherry cola and root beer were a few of the flavor choices and my grandfather loved joining us in each Fizzie moment.

Fizzies disappeared in the 60's due to a banned ingredient in the product. As kids, we found this perplexing. After all, we were the generation of no seat belts, no car seats, no helmets and lard. It seemed cruel to lose our effervescent friend, but Kool-Aid helped us recover from our loss.

The good news is that Fizzies are making a comeback. The CEO of a company in Minnesota said he couldn't bear to live in a world without Fizzies so he bought the trademark and is introducing eight fizzilicious cool flavors (as well as one hot cocoa flavor) to a new generation of wide-eyed kids. He wisely added Vitamin C to the mix so there is a possibility the government will see fit to leave the little tablets alone this time.

I haven't tasted the new Fizzies but there is a possibility they won't meet my memory standards. Not because they aren't as good, but because I won't be sitting around a table at lunch time with my raucous siblings and my grinning grandfather, watching little colored disks froth away in frosty glasses.

Enjoy a sip of your favorite memory this week and if you are feeling bold, share it with all of us. I won't judge.