Brittany Kelley
I’m not sure if you know, but one of the greatest culinary inventions ruled my life in 2012 — the Cheesy Potato Burrito from Taco Bell.
The warm, gooey burrito was just as delicious as the name implies. Filled with sour cream, nacho cheese, potatoes, beef and, I think, even more cheese, it was a fan favorite in my household, but it sadly retired at some point before I realized the good thing I had was gone (doesn’t that always happen).
So, when I recently treated myself to a meal in celebration of completing some important adult tasks and decided to order the new Beefy Potato Loaded Griller — with a hope and a dream that it would be similar — I had no idea what was coming my way.
The euphoria I felt when I took that first bite is almost embarrassing
“Oh my God!”
The words flew out of my mouth. This. Was. It! Sure, it was smaller and sure, it was grilled on the outside, but you couldn’t get me to believe that this was anything other than the burrito I’ve craved for years. The new name wouldn’t fool me. I knew.
One bite transported me back.
2012: the year that One Direction would put out their best album (“Take Me Home”); “Avengers” would release in theaters, starting a Marvel obsession that would become synonymous with my high school years; and my Minecraft era would begin.
Taking a bite of that burrito took me back to summer, where my mom and I often traveled to Buda to sit inside the local Taco Bell (Kyle didn’t have one yet!) and order our favorites — Enchuritos and a Cheesy Potato Burrito for me and an Enchurito, a Cheesy Potato Burrito and a Burrito Supreme for her.
I knew that Taco Bell meant a good day, one that would be sandwiched between an hours-long trip at Walmart and a fashion show at Kohls.
I think I ate Taco Bell, or at least tried to, almost every single day that summer. So, all of the sleepovers with my friends, the late nights on Minecraft, the new episodes of “Victorious” and the belts of “Back for You” were tied to that burrito.
This summer was also, arguably, my last summer before the harsh reality of life set in. My last summer of innocence.
You see, after those few precious months ended, I would begin middle school, where it was revealed that everything isn’t fairy dust and rainbows.
I learned that girls are awful. I learned that friends don’t have to mean what they say. I learned that cancer wasn’t something that people got only on television shows. I learned that I was too fat, too loud, too weird and too much.
I learned a lot, I think. I’m not special; I know that everyone else was enduring the real world, too, but I know that things changed from there.
But, afterwards, whenever I was able to eat that burrito with my mom, even after all of that, I was able to be taken back to the good times, that summer of happiness.
It’s easy to forget the small moments in life, the ones that don’t stand out. But while I was celebrating my adult self successfully doing adult things and eating that burrito, it was nice to look back and think of simpler times — of the Cheesy Potato Burrito days.
Kelley is news editor of the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch. She can reached via email at [email protected].
