Corner store

When I was young I would walk from the house to the corner store. A rather large man was the proprietor who went by the name big john. I can close my eyes and see the little store on the corner with shelves filled with canned goods and a lighted display case filled with fresh baked bread and cookies made by big john’s wife with whom he lived upstairs in a small apartment.

The floors were slanted in John's store which made cans roll towards the door when someone dropped one. It wasn’t uncommon to have a can greet you at the door. But it wasn’t the cans that caught my attention it was the eight large glass jars that sat on the counter next to the cigar box big john used to keep money in. Each jar held a treasure of sweetness and I still remember the contents of each one. Tootsie pops, double bubble- bubble gum, peach pits, saltwater taffy, licorice rolled up in a circle with a red-hot dot in the middle, wax bottles filled with liquid, sour grape balls, and last but not least fireballs. Each piece was a penny and if I was lucky I had a nickel going in and five out of eight leaving. Sometimes big John would give you an extra along with a big smile.

Walking back home I would savor each piece of candy always saving the fireball for last because if it got too hot I would be close enough to home to get a drink from the hose. Sometimes I would see my mom watching me slurping up the water with a smile on her face as she peeked out the window. Going inside she would wipe the corners of my mouth and kiss my head whispering “little hot huh?”

I suppose we all have our memories of that certain corner store. It’s a shame most are long gone replaced with the modern marvel of convenience and fast pace. Not many mom and pops, very few upstairs apartments over the store or bakery or t.v. repairman. Too many empty buildings with rotting timber and rusted pipes. Too many childhood memories lay in waste with no hope for return.

I am glad I at least had a glimpse of my history while it was coming to an end. I saw the paper mill in operation as well as the steel plant and the ball bearing factory that kept a town in work for generations. I saw the smoke from the now crumbled stacks and smelled the smells of a factory town. I saw all of this on my way to the little store on the corner in my hometown.

M.O.