It has been said that the sense of smell is probably the greatest tool for storing and triggering memories. I believe it. I have experienced the power of it many times, and this morning was no exception.
As I was preparing to shower, I flipped up the cap on the bottle of body wash and its fragrance transported me immediately back several years...to my grandmother and the house where I had spent many of my childhood and teen years. She didn't have body wash in her bathroom, but she had that favorite curved pink bar of soap with the same name and distinct delicate fragrance..."Caress"...its aroma filling the air and lingering on the skin that was washed with it.
That bathroom was a big deal and blessing to us. I recall how excited we all were when we finally had running cold and hot water...and we got an inside bathroom, complete with a tub and shower, installed In the house...when I was in junior high school. The gas furnace and a gas cook stove were installed around the same time...the prior source of heat being a large coal stove in the living room...and our food had previously been prepared on the wood stove in the kitchen. Also, for years our source of water was from a fresh spring that ran into a block holding tank under the house and was brought up through a pitcher pump at the kitchen sink. Bathing was done in a large round aluminum wash tub that sat in the pantry and was concealed by homemade curtains over the door. Water had to be heated on the old stove then carried to the tub. You just hoped to be one of the first kids to get in to bathe and not the last! lol
Now I am not that old. We were way behind most families in the area when it came to "modern conveniences" and, by many standards, we were poor or impoverished...but the loving care and discipline, along with the "caress" of my grandmother, more than made up for the material things and modern conveniences that we had lacked for so many years.
I find it amazing that now such a simple thing as the fragrance of soap or body wash can make her seem so near again and it brings tears of sadness, joy, and appreciation for simple things that many take for granted... ~C.J.
(Post copyright by C.J. Please do not share, copy, or use without permission.)
