The sense of smell can be extraordinarily evocative, bringing back pictures as sharp as photographs of scenes that had left the conscious mind.
Thalassa Cruso, To Everything There is a Season, 1973
Many of my fondest memories are wrapped around a scent . . . yours probably do too whether you realize it or not. JR, my first husband, was a carpenter, primarily a wood worker . . . as unusual as this is going to sound, the smell of wood was his scent.
For the longest time after he died, I would smell his clothes that still held the lingering scent of freshly cut wood. As the scent faded away, it sadly reminded me that "my present time" had turned into "my past" and memories that I would cherish forever.
The scent of baking bread reminds me of my fondest childhood memories spending time with my Nana in the kitchen, wanting her to teach me everything about cooking. Every Thursday and Sunday, the whole family would get together for our traditional meal of spaghetti and meat balls and italian sausage. She made the most awesome homemade garlic bread and pizza that she called "scachata."
Although I don't live in a cold climate, JR and I used to love to sit outside and burn a fire in our outdoor fireplace. We loved going camping on our monthly mini-vacations which always included having a fire going as long as we were at the campsite. The scent of burning wood in our outdoor fireplace would take us back . . . I love to burn a fire in my outdoor fireplace. Even though I'm alone, it is so cool to sit outside in the dark by the fireplace . . . and I also love it when my neighbors light their outdoor fireplaces. The scent takes me back to so many places and brings back so many different memories.
Diamond Lil has worn the same perfume for as long as I can remember . . . her house even smelled like it. When she would bring me anything from her house, my house momentarily took on the scent. My van smelled like her for days after we went off for a day of shopping since I usually drive.
Like mother like daughter . . . I have worn the same perfume for as long as I can remember too. The perfume scent also brings back all kinds of memories of past years.
The smell of cotton candy takes me back to my teenage years when I'd take my little brother to the fair. They are awesome memories of the special relationship we had as kids. All from the scent of cotton candy.
My sweet furbaby Kiki would get so excited when my ordered fried chicken was delivered. She knew she would get some. Her excitement was so cute and touched my heart. When I now smell fried chicken, the memory of her excitement touches my heart since she has been gone. I didn't realize at the time how special her excitement was to me.
Memories can manifest themselves in many ways with all of our senses when you think about it . . . a song can take me back to a certain place and time. I won't get started on that one or I will never stop writing. I wrote a blog post today that mentioned memories from an old song that reminded me of The Captain.
Then I remembered this old blog post and I had to bring it back. The scent of a memory is very special when the person is gone, but the scent remains.
