Personal Narrative: Tootsie Roll

The first time I ate a Tootsie Roll is one that I haven’t forgotten. Though, I haven’t eaten one in a while, I still remember the way I like to eat them and what they taste like. My interactions with Tootsie Rolls have taught me to try something before I say I don’t like it. Here is how it happened.
Growing up, candy was a prize. Maybe it was because my dad didn’t want to waste money on artificial sweeteners. Sure, my friends had candy, but my father never encouraged a love of candy. Thus, was the reason I grew up not caring much for sweet candy. My dad and I migrated to the U.S. shortly before I turned five. Here, I discovered a vast variety of candy; much more diverse that in Trinidad. There are brand names and new flavors I had not heard of.
This is my first introduction to ‘goody bags’. I quickly ran to my mother and asked her if I could have some of the candy in the bag. After all, my friends were eating theirs. She permitted me a few and I quickly chose the ones that caught my eye, leaving all the dull brown ones behind.
After I ate my few, my mom took the bag and put it on top the fridge when we got home. I never thought much about the bag during the next few months until I attended another birthday party. The cycle repeated almost exactly. I received the goody bag, gave it to my mom and she took the bag after I had a few candies. That happened quite a few times until we had a decently sized white shopping bag full of candy sitting on top the fridge.
When I was older, my family moved from Michigan to Roslindale, Massachusetts and the bag of candy was lost among the many sealed boxes. However, while I don’t remember ever seeing that white bag again, the cycle continued. A new bag of candy replaced the old one on top the fridge. As I got older, though, my parents decided to let me make my own decisions about candy and