I Am Eating NECCO Wafers

And I am reminded of two things:

1. Steve McGuigan — my brother’s friend who lived down the street from us. Sometimes, on very rare occassions, they would allow me tag along on a bike ride (i.e. my mom forced Johnny to bring me along) to Ebner’s Shop-o-Rama. Ebner’s (now defunct), was a one-stop-shop convenience store. It was within biking distance of our house, but it required crossing some “busy” intersections and I couldn’t go by myself. So it was a real treat to go there and pick out candy or a Stewart’s rootbeer I could enjoy in the park next door, or put in my little handlebar fanny-pack to enjoy later. When Johnny and Steve would take me along to Ebners, I remember Steve always buying a pack of Necco wafers.
2. Receiving the communion at the Catholic church my best friend attended (and I would be forced to attend almost every weekend when I slept over). I remember taking it, placing it in my mouth and thinking, “Hey! It’s like a bland Necco wafer!” And that’s what I told my mom when I came home that day. Her response was, “Tell me you didn’t eat it!?” which I thought was odd, because:
1.  if given a snack during church, why wouldn’t I take it? If I shouldn’t have the snacks they give out, then my mom should’ve known better and packed me some ‘Nilla Wafers or something. 
2. I just told you what it tasted like, so of course I ate it. I was promptly yelled at for “eating the body of Christ” because I never had my First Communion, or been baptized for that matter.