This memory just bubbled up, pun intended.

Someone on the radio mentioned 7Up, the drink.

And here comes the memory of the little lunch counter diner on our one block long street in Mahopac.

It was run by Mrs. O, but I can’t remember the  actual name of the place.

My mother would bring me there sometimes when we shopped at Pressman’s or Nussbaums or TomKat.

I would get a grill cheese sandwich and a very special treat: a glass of 7Up. 

We never had any soda pop in our house, since we knew it was not good for us (everybody knew that, and if you brought a Coke or a candy bar to school it was a little scandal.)

But lunch at Mrs. O’s place was a special thing and my mother would let me get 7Up with my grill cheese sandwich, a moment of pure, innocent joy.