I was 9 tender years old when my family moved to Colorado Springs. As soon as we moved in, my parents (tourism’s poster children) wanted to visit a new mall called The Citadel Mall.
It was a pretty cool looking mall with all these wooden playground things out front, and weird looking sculptures that had to have come from some other planet. And people. Tons of people - and other kids playing on the wooden things and the sculptures - I had to join them and I wouldn’t shut up until my parents gave in.
After about 10 minutes of listening to me holler because I got splinters in my hands and legs and fell off of the big wooden things, they decided it’s time to go inside the mall.
Imagine my disappointment when, just as we approached the entrance we took a sharp left turn - into a health food store!
So we go in there, and on the left is a cinema, on the right is a Mexican restaurant. Down the end of the hall is the main area and off to the left was this well lit and extremely colorful, fragrant and inviting candy shoppe named Michelle’s. Boy howdy if that didn’t catch my eye, and it was sheer delight for me when we turned and headed that direction. I could see and smell all the colorful candies and yummy looking chocolates through their big glass windows. I wanted that, and that - and that.
Closer and closer we got - what a dream come true for a child with a sweet tooth! (I had a whole mouth full of them!) I was floating on air daydreaming about all the goodies I wanted.
Imagine my disappointment when, just as we approached the entrance we took a sharp left turn - into a health food store! What a tacky place to situate a GNC (General Nutrition Center)! I was so truamatized by that, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
I spent most of my life drooling over that place!
Delightfully for me, when I was about 18 years old, I landed a job at their Michelle's original down town location. I loved it! The best part of working there was that I was behind the candy counter selling their world famous home made chocolates - AND - as an added bonus, the owners encouraged us to partake. And partake I did! 
Oh, boy, was that worth the 9 year wait! I loved the candy, I loved the owners, and I especially loved the customers.
One early evening an older gentleman stopped in to purchase chocolates for his bride - of about 80 years - (OK, that’s an exaggeration, but it may as well have been). He was so in love with her after all those years, it made me wonder if I’d ever find that kind of love. (I had just broken up with a guy, so I was a little down on the idea of love.) The gentleman and I got to talking while I waited on him, and he told me all about how true love with the same partner for most of his life was the most beautiful thing anyone could ever experience. And he had a twinkle in his eye as he told me this.
“Have you ever fallen in love?” he asked.
“Love?!” I quipped, “Forget love! I’d rather fall in chocolate!”
The customers laughed, and he said, “That’s a good one!” He then told me that someday I’d find true love, and I told him that I had and that I was working in it.
On a sad side note, Michelle’s closed up shop a couple of years ago, but the memories of that place lives on in the hearts of their many customers.
I don’t remember if it was he or another customer who wanted to know if they could quote that remark, and I told him sure, why not. It was just a remark.
I had no idea that someday it would become one of America’s most beloved quotes.
Several years ago I noticed my phrase being used quite a bit, but was always attributed to “anonymous”, which kind of insulted me. I’m not anonymous! So I came forward and claimed my phrase.
I sent a few emails off to let people know that I was the one who made that statement, please put my name with it. All I wanted was for credit to be given to me for having said it is all.
One particular company sent me a nasty email back telling me they weren’t going to give me credit for it, then they turned around and apparently filed for ownership of the phrase, apparently afraid that I’d sue them or something.
Whatever. I think that’s pretty dishonest, but if people can live with themselves for stealing someone else’s phrase without even bothering to try to ask for permission to use it or strike a deal like, “okay we’ll put your name on it but we’re not paying you”, more power to them, I guess. Maybe they were afraid of being sued so they wanted to protect something that was never theirs to begin with. I don’t know, but I think that was pretty dirty of them. People like that have no conscience. I couldn’t live with myself if I ever acted like that.
All I wanted was for my remark to be associated with me.
It’s funny how the story about my phrase is making it’s rounds now. One website says that it came from a comedienne named Sandra Dyke. Huh? OK, I’m no comedienne, and I don’t know who that is, but it isn’t me. In fact, my name wasn’t Dykes yet when I made that remark, Dykes is my married-but-now-divorced name that I ended up with in the 1990’s.
This same website also says that the phrase apparently started in 2007. I found it splattered all over the internet years before that. In fact, I used it again in a chat room in about 1998 or 1999, and someone that I was chatting with recognized it. (I later “inherited” that chat after it’s owner passed away from Kidney failure.)
Well, anyway, since my phrase is so well loved and since there are some different stories floating around about where it came from, I thought I’d post it’s true history here.
And in the future, I think I’ll carry a tape recorder around with me and tape everything I say then send it to the copyright office for ownership in case something else witty and fun comes out of my mouth.
While the copyright owners think they have legal status to my phrase, the law does uphold intellectual property, for which I can still claim my phrase and sue for plagiarism. But why bother? Just seeing how well loved a phrase that came out of my mouth is serves as payment enough for me, and what a boost to my self esteem! I’m very happy to know that I did something that so many people loved. I never thought I had that in me, to be quite honest.
Plus, it’s a lesson learned for me to copyright everything I say in the future so that if, by chance, something else smart and witty comes out of my mouth, it’ll be protected.
But no worries. I know who made that phrase, the people who heard me make it know it, and to be honest, the copyright owners must also know it, or else they wouldn’t have rushed to file for ownership of it so quickly after they received my email asking them to please add my name to my phrase. And of all the nerve, they didn’t even bother to apologize or anything, they just got right to work stealing my phrase.
As for me, I’m just happy to know I made people happy.