My Musk Life Saver Habit

Eureka!

I have found it, finally: the elusive MUSK LIFE SAVER. And it's just around the corner from where I live, in a small city grocery store.

Some of you have tried this Life Saver, at my encouragement. Actually, I begged you. "Please please please will you try this Musk Flavored Life Saver from Australia? It's odd at first but it's really really good and I think you might like it."

Every single person — even the frenchman from tahiti — spit it out.

"BlechK! That's *gross*!"

I was really depending on that Frenchman.

I have loved these things since 1988, when my friend Courtney (the only rich person I've known that has lived in a trailer court), brought them with her to school one day. I tried one on the bus. LOVED IT.

I got myself a penpal from Melbourne the next year, and pretty soon she was my Musk Life Saver dealer. She sent me packages full of candy and pictures of koalas. I savored the Life Savers, didn't hold onto the koala pictures for long. "Send me more! SEND ME MORE!"

I eventually heard through the grapevine from Courtney that I could buy them at a gift store in Inner Harbour in Baltimore, Maryland. As happy as I was to find a local distributor, I was disappointed all the same. They almost became too easy to get. They almost lost their exotic nature.

I never did buy any in the States; instead I did without. It wasn't until 2001 that I went to Australia for the first time and was a able to buy them direct. And boy, did I buy. I bought enough to eat there, and enough to bring back to the States. Once back in Seattle, I stashed some away. I actually, eventually, forgot about them.

Three years later I was packing up to move and found my stash. Oh, my sweet sweet stash. There were rolls and rolls and rolls of Musk Life Savers, all mine. ALL MINE. I ate a pack right there, laughing all the way. I tossed the rest into my car's First Aid kit and we hit the road.

It bothered me that the Frenchman didn't like them - that NO ONE liked them, in fact. They all thought they were gross. I treasured them, savoured them.

Then, one day, someone liked them. Really really liked them. And he meant it.

So we moved to Australia to find more.