I was looking for a beverage to quench my thirst one day as I perused a vending machine recently. Near the top of the machine, I saw the button for ‘Cherry Coke’ (or Coca-Cola Cherry as it is now branded) and I pushed it.
It’s not like I discovered the secret recipe for Coca-Cola or anything. But it was still delicious and satisfying. Yum.
I don’t often treat myself to sugary sodas any more but that Cherry Coke really hit the spot. It also reminded me of the Summer of ’85 (the year Coca-Cola introduced the brand into the American market).
It’s funny how your senses – sights and sounds and smells…even tastes – can remind you of an earlier time. I wrote about this, recently, when I walked past a candy counter. Cherry Coke always reminds me of that influential Summer of ’85.
You might say the sip of soda sent me ‘Back to the Future.’ That was the popular movie we all enjoyed during the Summer of ’85. That soundtrack produced the hit song, “Power of Love.” That’s not the first song that comes to mind, though, when I think of that year. Ironically, the pop song I associate with ‘the Summer of ‘85’ is the Bryan Adams song, ‘Summer of ’69.’
When you turned on the radio that summer, you’d often hear that popular hit song.
Coming of age, as I did, in the middle of the Reagan Revolution, our President was half-way through his time in the White House that summer. He was ever-present in the news and on the tv screen.
The baseball pennant race that summer produced the infamous I-70 series between St. Louis and Kansas City. Cardinals fans will still tell you with great animation how their beloved birds were robbed by an umpire’s call in that World Series.
Closer to home, I was nearing graduation that summer. Looking at my schedule, I could tell I was coming up three hours short of graduating by that December. So, I signed up for a summer class – a feature writing course taught by a very influential professor (influential in our lives, I mean).
That was one of my all-time favorite classes.
And of course, the Summer of ’85 was when things were really getting serious for me and Lisa. We got engaged that summer. Within a year, we were married.
She wasn’t a big fan of Cherry Coke, per se. But, I hope, at least, she was a fan of the Summer of ’85!
JG
Originally posted 5/14/2013
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