Skip to main content

Scent of a Grandma

We spent last weekend back in Nebraska. We went to visit because it was close to Jupiter's cousin, Ryland's, third birthday and we thought it would be nice celebrate with him.

While we were there I started paying attention to smells. Particularly, in this case, the smell of the laundry detergent caught my attention. I never noticed the difference between scented and unscented laundry detergent growing up, but since we use scent free laundry detergent at home, I am now noticing it.

My mother happened to wash some of our clothes while we were staying at her and my father's house for the weekend. Our packing job was somewhat sporadic due to some unexpected health issues, so we needed to do some washing. My mother, being the extremely gracious host she is, would not let us spend our limited time doing laundry, so she offered to wash a few things.

She washed my son's pajamas because we did not pack more than one set. Then, while I was out doing something else, Chris gave her my jeans to wash. I do not wash my jeans as much as conventional wisdom tells me I should. I happen to like a particular amount of grime to stay with my jeans and only wash them when it seems absolutely necessary. It had not gotten to that point yet here. Not only did my jeans loose the grime, but now they had a fresh scent too.

All this did not bother me too much. I do not have a problem living with jeans that have a slight scent of going through my mom's laundry. It makes me think of the past a bit more, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. It actually got me thinking about how smells can help persuade our actions.

When I started dating Chris, once in awhile I got a scent from her that brought nostalgia into my mind. It was somewhat reminiscent of my late grandma. It was not that Chris smelled like my grandma. It was just a scent that reminded me of her.

I would only smell it once in a while. I do not know if it is the perfume she chose, the way she did her laundry, or something else altogether, but it was a good thing in a strange way. It was a smell that gave off familiarity. It made probably helped make me feel more comfortable around her. More like I could just relax and be me.

Coincidentally, that is one thing about her that lead me to want to marry her. The fact that she likes who I am without me trying to be someone else. All the failed relationships before her failed because I was trying to be someone that someone else wanted me to be. Chris knows all the good and the bad that I am and wants me to continue to be me whoever that might be or turn into.

I wonder how much the familiarity of scent guides us when looking for relationships of any sort. Whether it be romantic, friendship, family, or casual acquaintance. I know that sometimes I will smell the scent of my grandma or grandpa on a complete stranger and feel like I can connect with that person in some small way immediately.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Poky Little Puppy

Sometimes Jupiter likes to read the classic Golden Book tale, The Poky Little Puppy before bed or nap time. This is another of many children's stories where the intended moral of the story seems to have been surpassed by a message that, I think, conveys the nearly the opposite message. The Poky Little Puppy is a story about five little puppies who dig a hole under the fence to go out for a walk in the wide, wide world. The fifth, poky, puppy is always behind the others. Eventually the poky little puppy smells the dessert that is prepared for the puppies each night. The four other puppies smell it too and hurry home while the poky puppy takes his time. The four puppies then eat their dinner and are scolded by their mother for digging a hole under the fence with the punishment being that they do not get dessert. Then along comes the poky puppy after everyone is asleep. He is met with no dinner but left over dessert, since the four puppies were not able to eat it. This scenario takes...
6 comments
Read more

Kid on a Leash

Has anyone seen these kid leash products around? Sometimes I see them at the zoo, farmers market, or other crowded areas. If a company can make a product that will make a parent feel a little bit safer, there will always be people out there to buy it. When I see one, it reminds me of that scene in Rise of the Planet of the Apes when a leashed Caesar sees a dog on a leash and turns to Will and signs, "Am I a pet?" The idea of the product is that it will keep the child safe and nearby. It is designed to subside the fear that a child will run off or get abducted. I think that if someone is out to abduct a child during the few seconds when a parent is looking away, a leash is a very small deterrent, and likely, not effective. All the abductor would need is a nice pair of scissors or simply their fingers. The latch cannot be that hard to work. If anything, having a leash might give a parent a false sense of security causing them to pay less attention to the child. In that case it...
3 comments
Read more

The Santa Lie

When I was young my parents followed a tradition which I imagine was passed down to them from their parents who received the tradition from their parents before them and so on for a generation or two before them. I am of course talking about the yearly tradition of deceiving their gullible offspring with myths of a jolly man who lives at the North Pole. I fell for it. They were fairly elaborate to the point of even having a man dressed up as a Santa come to the front door one year. This of course sparked my suspicion a little. Why the front door and not the chimney? Though I do not remember what it was, a satisfactory explanation was given and I continued to believe in it. Eventually I did finally figure it all out, mostly through ridicule from schoolmates and my 3rd grade teacher for still believing it. I did not take the news well. I did not understand that my parents, who regularly told me that lying is wrong and makes Jesus cry, would keep up such an elaborate and ultimately pointl...
6 comments
Read more