Good afternoon ,

Have you ever heard the story that LifeSavers candy have the holes in the middle of them so that if you have the displeasure of choking on them you can still breath until someone can Heimlich them out?

In my family, we like to be scientific, so we put this to the test. On purpose, of course. No one sought to be a ginny pig, but as many times happens in life, the situations as thrust upon us.

The one LIFE choose to experiment on was my youngest. She was at the dining room table with her sisters, finishing their homework. Or, that was the idea at least. I had told them several times to calm down and get their work done, producing out of my mom magic a handful of individually wrapped LifeSavers to entice them to obey.

Then I sat down on the couch to write. The enticement didn’t work. Instead of raucous laughter, giggles were muffled. But I ignored them. Kids will be kids and all that. I have some paragraphs left to write to complete the chapter. Just a few more minutes. That’s all I needed.

“MOM!”

We hear that word several times a day when the children are still living with us, but there was a tinge of panic in this one. Irritation bubbled up inside of me, wondering what was so urgent that—

“SHE’S CHOKING! SHE’S TURNING BLUE!”

Full panic blossomed in my chest at those last words. I stumbled from the couch, my feet too fast to pick up friction, and find my youngest making strange movements with her neck and head as thought reign to swallow something down. Without thinking more, I turn her around, hand on top of hand and push into her belly. Nothing. I push again. Nothing.

Again. Again. No candy. Within the flash of an instant, my brain calculated that by the time the ambulance came, it would be too late.

“Mom! I swallowed it.”

Her raspy voice broke through my panic. With shaking hands, I wiped her bangs away as she, blushing, complained about her throat hurting. The older sisters started talking at once, but I only half listened, watching my youngest as she squirmed, then lurched forward.

I got her to the bathroom in time, but didn’t get the toilet lid lifted in time.

With a clink, the LifeSaver candy came out. Completely whole.

I didn’t get any more paragraphs written that day.

A few days later I told my youngest the supposed history of the candy and asked if it was true. Could she breathe with it in her throat due tot he hole?

She looked at my like a was joking. "I don't think I would be so scared if could breathe, mom."

Fair point. Experiment was complete. A nice story of fiction. And now I know why my grandma used to bust each candy with a hammer until we were adults.

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