Dr. Pepper and Lianna

I just had a Proustian moment. You know how a taste or a smell can transport you back to an earlier memory!

It is warm today in the office. The air conditioner is not working properly. So I decided to splurge on a soda from the lunchroom machine. I got a Diet Dr. Pepper and took it back to the desk where I am working on someone corrupted computer. As soon as I took a tiny sip, the taste transported me back to the year 1977. That year my friend, Lianna Dillman and I would walk home from Schultz Middle School to her mother's office on West End Blvd. Her mother worked in the Girl Scout Council office and we would hang out in the kitchen and goof around until it was time to go home. Then Mrs Dillman would drive me home on her way.

Lianna and I got into the habit of stopping at a little donut shop conveniently located on our way from school to the office. I remember everyday that I bought a Dr Pepper or a TAB and a chocolate iced long john donut. It was such a happy time.

It never occurred to me why Mrs Dillman didn't mind my walking with Lianna and her having to drive me home. Now as the mother of a young daughter, I am only too aware of the dangers for girls walking alone. I realize that not only was she happy to have someone to keep Lianna company at the office, but that she was keeping both of us from going home to empty houses, and keeping Lianna from walking alone. Maybe the world hasn't changed so much. Maybe we are just more aware at a younger age.