Licorice!!

I know this is a written piece, but I want you to imagine Oprah saying “Licorice!!!!” In that voice of hers (you know, that loud high pitched voice that starts out lows and ends up high, right?) If you can imagine that voice that is the feeling I am trying to portray in the heading:  Licorice!!!! That’s right, whether it is Good n’ Plenty, Licorice Mix, Twizzlers, Red Vines, String Licorice, Anise hard candies, or even Luden’s Honey-Licorice Cough Drops there is nothing quite as good. The rich, almost heavy tasting candy has been around for centuries. It is even used for medicinal purposes. But none of that has to do with me, my friend Goldie Reinhardt, and string licorice!

It was fall and I was entering 3^rd grade at Groveland elementary school in Minnetonka. As with each new school year I was nervous and shy, wondering if would I find a new friend, would I fit in? I was placed next to a new girl in the school – Goldie Reinhardt. Oh, what an exotic name. Goldie, like her name had a round chubby face, and curly golden hair. I liked her immediately and we became fast friends. I was so happy!  Shortly after school started I was invited to play at Goldie’s house after school.

At Goldie’s house her mom gave us a bag of strawberry string licorice. Wow, this was a new experience for me. We took the string licorice and made necklaces and bracelets comprised of multiple knots. We would proudly wear the “jewelry” as we danced around the house (yes, my dancing career had started by then!). After displaying our fine wares we would eat our jewelry. If you have done this before you know that “knotted” licorice tastes better and different than the stringy part. I swear it does! Try it if you don't believe me. The bag of licorice would quickly disappear as we continued to eat what we made and soon it was time to go home.

But when my mom came to pick me up and saw where Goldie lived she immediately drew conclusions on not only Goldie, but her family as well. Goldie’s family lived in the basement apartment of a pink house in the “older” part of Minnetonka. I wasn’t sure why my mom didn’t like Goldie and her family – I thought the pink house was awesome, and her mom gave us licorice to play with.  I guess that was my first experience with discrimination. I’m not totally blaming my mom, I know she is a product of her generation, but my heart broke a little bit that day. I just didn’t get it. While Goldie and I continued to be friends, over time the friendship faded, more than likely because I wasn’t always allowed to play with her. Then Goldie’s family moved outside the school district and that was that.  To this day, it still makes me sad that I lost a friend.

That experience intuitively made me sensitive to any form of discrimination. You may not know this, but we raised our three kids while living in an apartment. We didn’t have much money, but we raised three beautiful, smart wonderful daughters. When I would see the parents of my daughter’s friends treat us “differently” I thought back to how Goldie and her mom must have felt. It simply isn’t right, people shouldn’t be judged based on the balance of their checkbook or their address. I am so incredibly proud of my daughters and how they didn’t let the fact that we didn’t have a lot of money affect them, actually, they wore that like a proud badge.

So forever, string licorice reminds me of my friend Goldie Reinhardt. It is a sweet memory for me.