LOL.. No seriously... Do you ever catch a whiff of something and get transported straight back to a certain place and time.... I opened up my gargantuan (yes, a word, my niece K would concur!) canister of Folgers coffee (cheaper than my favorite 1 1/2c bag of the Starbuck's vanilla bean I love, but... $$$) and was snapped back to Pattie St, in Wichita KS... home of my beautiful grandparents. I remember standing in the old metal stool and Grandma teaching me to use the can opener, opening up a new thing of coffee for her and grandpa... To this day I can't open a can, or bag of coffee without a extra ba-bump in my heart!
You see, it wasn't just the learning to open a can of coffee. Being at my grandparents house meant I was safe. Safe to be me. Safe from anger. Safe to rest. I was adored and loved. I felt amazing when I was at their house. Even after my grandpa passed, I had a feeling there I had nowhere else in the world at that time of my life (the better part of the first 14 years). I was encouraged to do things, try things, and enjoy things that did not happen at home. To this day I believe grandparents, or at least stand-ins, are essential to a child's healthy development. My children are blessed by a gaggle of googling grandparents who adore them! My grandparents treated me like I was perfect, and amazing! During a time when my reality at home would say otherwise, impeccable timing I'd say!
I haven't yet figured out what in my past to write about and what not to, so think it will suffice to say for now, that I am doing everything in my power to not repeat much of my childhood with my own children. I had a few things that I utilize, but overall not much. I am a completely different person today than I was at 10, 15, even 18, 19 or 20. Can I get a big AMEN for that??? ;)
I find it amazing how a simple smell can awaken (get it? best part of wakin up, is??? Folgers in your cup... lol Ok, I think I'm funny... looks count..) a whole rush of your past and blast it past your eyes! My Grandma just passed on Halloween and I was blessed to have her for 32 years... Out of everyone in my family, I think I am most like her and find that a pretty great thing!!! I hope one day I can love my grandbabies up like she did and find all of their perfections and be blind to their imperfections... Every now and then I will walk into some one's house and I can smell the same smell I would get walking through her front door. I just want to sit and breathe deep and soak up as much of the memories playing, that I can while my sensories are working overtime!
There are other smells I smell, and they can almost instantly bring me to my knees, in a fetal position, with the amount of pain they awaken from my past... Am I the only one who does this with smells? I remember talking to a counselor about this when I was about 15 or 16 and them telling me that the brain can do that. I remember seeking counsel as a baby Christian at about 21, and learning your could actually ask God to deliver you from memories.... You know what? I have done it and He has indeed delivered me from many memories that have haunted me, but occasionally the smells of things overwhelm my memory bank, and I have to work them out again....
I choose to seek out scents when I am extremely happy and content to make a "smelly mark" on my brain. To overwhelm my memory bank with joy and love and hope!!! Smells like Johnson's baby soap.. I can remember giving each of my babies their 1st baths. The sweet smell of the mountains after a rain... Like in the meadow when Cory proposed to me. Farm Diesel (this sounds bad, I know, don't worry, I'm not a huffer! lol)... I can remember a few happy times with my dad on the old John Deeres, during haying season, add to that a can of Pepsi, what we'd get after we finished bailing, I love when someone opens up a can of Pepsi still... Pert... My boys fresh out of the shower, I smell their hair to make sure they don't smell like wet puppies.. ;) Zest with the smell of shaving cream in the bathroom... I know my hubby is home (which isn't that often). A wood stove burning.... Living with my big brother while we were in college in Gunnison, was all we had for heat, and we'd camp out together in front of it during the winter (one of my favorite times of my life prior to my family.) In fact, I secretly love smelling like a campfire anytime, camping or not, because it is such a comforting smell to me. Angel Perfume... What my mom wore when we were mending our relationship and turning it into the awesome one that it is now! The crazy JLo perfume.. Wyatt's 1st solo gift just for mommy... Pot roast... Something all 4 of my boys love smelling and talk about how "they can't wait for dinner", for hours.. ;) This will sound weird but a smell I really miss, tiny baby poops, when they are only on breast milk. A smell I would smell shortly after every feeding of my sweet tiny babies, that I miss sooo much! You get the point (and also that I am extraordinarily weird, I saved their belly buttons too, ya, I'm that mom, kind of!lol ).. I'm transformed by smells left and right, day and night (like when Nathan the stealth bed invader sneaks in and I wake up to the smell of his hair about an hour later..). I'm thankful for that as I don't always remember things very well.. I think it's God's way of keeping me grounded and looking forward to many new smelly memories!
I realize that is a horribly formed paragraph but not sure I want to shorten it and don't know where to split it.. you get it right? ;)
What smells awaken you in the morning? At night? What smells are you seeking out to make a mark on your bank? Embrace this powerful sense and use it well!
Cheers-
Looking for the scratch-n-sniff glue...
K
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