As a child one sees the world in a different view than we adults do now. A child is ignorant to many things around them, but they are more observant of other objects that adults do not notice. Have you ever looked back on your childhood and recalled an event as your childhood mind would remember it? Looking back on memories such as a walk past a candy shop has taught me how to stand up for what I believe in.

            I grew up in a small town where everyone knew one another, you could walk five minutes and cross from one side of the town to another, and you always stopped by the local candy store to get a treat when you passed it. My mother always walked me and my siblings to the store after school to get an afternoon snack. We would stop at the post office to check our mail, pass the barbershop where we would talk to Mr. Walden, and then we would enter Amber’s candy shop. There were always so many options, but Mama only gave each of us one dollar to spend on a snack.  I picked out an ice cream sandwich every time even on the coldest days of the winter.

            Once I started getting older my mother no longer wanted to walk to the candy shop. She would buy snacks from the grocery store and bring them home for us to eat. I felt it was a tradition for us to go to the candy shop so I was very disappointed. After I asked my mother if I could walk to the candy shop by myself to buy a snack she told me I could as long as I promised to not lose my dollar. I promised her and was determined to keep the promise.

I started this walk to the store, holding tight to the dollar my mother gave me.  I was frightened to be on the streets by myself. I refused to let anything happen to my dollar that I was going to use to buy my snack by myself. I passed the post office refusing to stop and speak to my friend that was standing outside. I then passed the barber shop and did not look Mr. Walden in the eyes so that I could sneak by without having to stop. I made it to the candy shop with my dollar still intact.