There are pieces of our childhood that exist in ou9r memories. Maybe we don't even think of them unless there is a specific reason to do so. A moment frozen in time that comes to the forefront once in awhile.
Reinhardt's is one of those places for me. It is a part of my childhood that I have rarely thought of since, unless I happened to find myself out that way for some reason. It brings me back to Sundays after church when I would get my $5 allowance to take to the store and spend. Don't be judging my $5. It was a lot back then.
So, I would take my $5 and head into Reinhart's. I would stand in front of the wall of candy and stare, trying to figure out what I would buy. There were so many choices... too many for me. I would stand there until I was told it was time to go. Then I would usually grab a Whatchamacallit and maybe a Big Chew or maybe Bubblegum cigarettes. After standing there that whole time, I would usually get the same thing every time.
Maybe that's why a place like that holds such a precious place in our hearts. A representation of the innocence of childhood. A place where I didn't have to think about all the things I struggle with today.
When you watch a part of your past disappear in a deluge of flames, only to become a pile of rubble, you feel a sense of lass, and ache that you may not even understand. As if that physical representation of your childhood has been relegated to the memories of so many, only to become something that fades eventually.
Yes, it is, or was a building. A store like so many that have come and gone throughout the years. But for so many it was so much more than that. It was a place that was part of so many pieces of our past.
I am 41. It has been decades since I was in that store. I would imagine so many of us have not walked its aisles in many years. Yet we watched those flames engulfing it with sadness. As if we'd lost an old friend.
I apologize if I misspelled Reinhart's. I tried to look it up but was unable to find it.
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