The icee

Every Sunday, my family gathers at my Maternal Grandmother's house for lunch. When I was young we all went to the same church and then we would get in our cars and go to her house. We ate at her house two times a week, Sunday afternoons and Tuesday nights. Tuesday was her day off from her job at Woolworth so we always had fried chicken on Tuesday night because she had all day. But on Sunday we had a ham or a roast because she could put it in the oven before church and set a timer and by the time we got there it would be done. My brother and I always wanted to ride with our grandparents from church to their house because we always knew that my Grandfather would stop at the convenience store on the way. I can't remember what the name of the store was--it wasn't a 7-11--just a generic quick stop. We always got an icee. And as I remember there were usually only 2 flavors, coke and some other flavor that I think was almost always something red. I think I always went for the red flavor. I have said many times that food holds and carries our collective stories. And for me an icee is one of those foods because it holds a memory of now two people who are no longer alive, my grandfather and my brother.
Although, I'm not sure you can call an icee food. And here is why I say that today. I read a blog of a friend of mine today who wrote about getting an icee at Target recently. (When I was in Atlanta my friend Mary Sue and I would often get an icee at the Target as well. The flavor was something like cherry ice--it was white.) So I had to go to Target today and I thought I'll get an icee as well--you know it holding memories and such. I got the cherry coke flavor. The woman at the counter gave me a cup and I got the domed shape lid with the hole in the top, the nipple portion of the lid. And I proceeded to fill up the cup with the icee. I filled it up and started to grab a straw and the icee began flooding out of the cup. It was like a volcanic eruption except it didn't shoot up in the air like those coke/mentos videos on Youtube. And it just kept going. It was all over my hand, all over the counter. I finally put the cup back on the dispenser drain and let it do its thing while I cleaned up the spill. But here is my question: what is in the icee that makes it expand? I watch a whole lot of This Old House and other such shows and there is an insulation material that does the same thing. It goes into the walls and then expands. But this theoretically should just have some soda syrup and ice right? Whatever it is that's just not right.
But it tasted kind of good, but not as good as I remember from when my brother and I would rush into the convenience store. Actually, if I'm honest I'm feeling a little gross now. Maybe some things are better left as memories.

Peace out.