Velamints and my neighbor, Louise

Somehow Velamints came into the conversation recently, and no one knew what I was talking about. When I say the word, the saliva collects such that I can almost see the woman who used to say it, her thin line of lipstick iterating the words slowly and deliciously. Velamints were those sugar free, fat free chocolate flavor suckers you could enjoy to your heart's content. As a child, our elderly neighbor Louise always carried a tin in her purse. Altoid tins have nothing on Velamints. Velamints came first, at least in my opinion; therefore, Altoids come in Velamints tins. My mother, brother and I would go shopping with Louise, and inevitably, standing in the checkout she would always grab a tin and add it to the cart. She never called me by my nickname, but always spoke every syllable of my name (I think she enjoyed the sounds of words like I do). "Melanie, would you like some Velamints?" I can see her white hair, flaps of underneck skin, sun spots on her wrists and bangles... tons and tons of bracelets and rings, mostly with turquoise in them - her birthday was in December like my little brother's, and she loved the rock turquoise. This is a blog-toast to my neighbor Louise and to Velamints - the no-longer-manufactured candy that brings back memories.