SWEET MEMORIES

 

 

 

SWEET MEMORIES

 

Jaromir was born in Zagreb in 1947, during the dictatorial reign of Joseph Broz (Tito).

His childhood was marked by periods of acute hunger, lack of education and no spiritual or moral guidance. Yet, he was able, through sheer determination, to work his way up and eventually migrate to America. He became a citizen ten years later which allowed him to obtain a good-paying job, a nice apartment, a wonderful wife and two children.

One evening he popped open a bag of sucking candy he liked, but this time it was much more than the sweet, satisfying taste he so loved. It seemed that, with each unwrapped piece he ate, there was a burst of memories from his childhood – none that he ever recalled. With each new confection there was a new memory!

 

 

 

Different flavors led to different memories.

Strawberry opened a flood of violent recollections of fighting, guns, personal confrontations.

Lime had the opposite effect, exposing green fields, sunny days, lazy summers.

Licorice evoked horrible memories of friends that were dead, of a house that burned to the ground when he was only three, of a slap in the face by a girl he had long forgotten.

Cherry evoked a memory of his mother’s operation that he had repressed, his father’s bout with alcoholism, his brother’s addiction to heroin.

Each flavor equaled new repressed memories. The flood of new thoughts was almost too much to endure, yet he became addicted to the process. He bought bag after bag and spent many of his waking hours reliving a past that he had totally forgotten or long repressed.

Jaromir eventually became a “sweets addict”, constantly trying new brands of candies, but only sucking candies worked.

This obsession cost him dearly in the form of very large dental bills to restore his teeth, rotted by these high-sugar sweets.

Still. He couldn’t stop. Nothing deterred him from flooding his brain with scores of new memories.

His weight surged due to this high-caloric excess. He could care less.  He craved more and more like a dope addict craves his next fix.

Alas, he became a victim of diabetes. He ignored his plight and continued on, despite dire warnings by his physician.

To no one’s surprise, he went into a diabetic coma and dropped dead in front of his doctor’s office!

An autopsy confirmed the cause of death. It also revealed strange changes to Jaromir’s brain. The autopsy report detailed an abnormal enlargement of the cerebral cortex and the frontal lobe with no causation found!

 

 

 

 

SWEET MEMORIES

 

Jaromir was born in Zagreb in 1947, during the dictatorial reign of Joseph Broz (Tito).

His childhood was marked by periods of acute hunger, lack of education and no spiritual or moral guidance. Yet, he was able, through sheer determination, to work his way up and eventually migrate to America. He became a citizen ten years later which allowed him to obtain a good-paying job, a nice apartment, a wonderful wife and two children.

One evening he popped open a bag of sucking candy he liked, but this time it was much more than the sweet, satisfying taste he so loved. It seemed that, with each unwrapped piece he ate, there was a burst of memories from his childhood – none that he ever recalled. With each new confection there was a new memory!

 

 

 

Different flavors led to different memories.

Strawberry opened a flood of violent recollections of fighting, guns, personal confrontations.

Lime had the opposite effect, exposing green fields, sunny days, lazy summers.

Licorice evoked horrible memories of friends that were dead, of a house that burned to the ground when he was only three, of a slap in the face by a girl he had long forgotten.

Cherry evoked a memory of his mother’s operation that he had repressed, his father’s bout with alcoholism, his brother’s addiction to heroin.

Each flavor equaled new repressed memories. The flood of new thoughts was almost too much to endure, yet he became addicted to the process. He bought bag after bag and spent many of his waking hours reliving a past that he had totally forgotten or long repressed.

Jaromir eventually became a “sweets addict”, constantly trying new brands of candies, but only sucking candies worked.

This obsession cost him dearly in the form of very large dental bills to restore his teeth, rotted by these high-sugar sweets.

Still. He couldn’t stop. Nothing deterred him from flooding his brain with scores of new memories.

His weight surged due to this high-caloric excess. He could care less.  He craved more and more like a dope addict craves his next fix.

Alas, he became a victim of diabetes. He ignored his plight and continued on, despite dire warnings by his physician.

To no one’s surprise, he went into a diabetic coma and dropped dead in front of his doctor’s office!

An autopsy confirmed the cause of death. It also revealed strange changes to Jaromir’s brain. The autopsy report detailed an abnormal enlargement of the cerebral cortex and the frontal lobe with no causation found!