Scented memories

The other day, I was helping a friend with cleaning. I usually use lemon-scented cleaners, and it happened that she had Pine Sol on hand. Well, I opened the bottle up, and it brought me right back to years ago when I had worked in my early teens for an elderly lady. She was the orneriest, most bad tempered person I've ever worked for! I mean - I have worked for a retired drill instructor - and you'd think that THAT would be the difficult job. But nooooo......that was a walk in the park. LOL!

It got me to thinking about how smells and scents can trigger memories. Whenever I smell ham and baked beans, I think of my Grandma. Fresh bread makes me think of Mom.......Pine Sol makes me think of a grumpy woman. :Hahaha:

How about you? Are there scents that trigger memories for you?

One thing that triggers me is the scent of Dial bar soap.

When I was pregnant with Devin, my water broke in my 6 month and I had to stay in the hospital on bed rest. I spent 3 1/2 weeks there before going into active labor and then Devin was born. The soap they used was Dial; so now every time I smell that soap I am back in that hospital.

That is neat! There is one smell that always makes me think of my great-grandma's house, before she died. The smell of old books. She had shelfs and shelfs! I was too little too care about books then, now I wish they were still there for me to look at!

My first girlfriend and I used to play tennis a lot back in the '70s. Fresh tennis balls always had a very distinctive smell to them. If I opened a can today, I bet I'd be overcome.

Hockey odor is one of the most distinctive smells on the face of the planet. You can't wash it away, Febreeze it away, or air it out. A few weeks ago, my son asked me to haul his hockey bag out of the cellar and look to make sure all his equipment was still inside. As soon as I unzipped the bag, the smell of sweaty and often used gloves, pads, and jock strap permeated the room, reminding me of those long rides home from practices, games, and tournaments with the hockey bag in the back of the SUV and the rank odor forcing us to open the windows even in the cold of winter.

I gotta say the smell of fried plaintains getting cooked always makes me remember the big saturday morning breakfasts we had when we lived in Los Angeles. There were a total of 3 families living in the house (to help w/ the rent) and we always looked forward to Saturday mornings.... We would have a tipical salvadorean breakfast - beans, egg, cream or cheese and fried plantains. We would go to the bakery to buy french bread... would drink juice, hot chocolate or coffee... it was quite a banquet and we were always ready for it

My granny's house always has a very distinctive apple smell, and nobody, nor herself may explain why! My grandpa's brother, always said he loved how his sister-in-law houses smelled, for she move some three times in life and her houses ALWAYS were apple scented... :think:

And the smell of clove and cinnammon makes me think about my great-grandma Amanda. She always cooked a wonderful dessert made of rice, sugar, milk and cloves and cinnammon, and her house was penty of those beatiful smells.

Vanesa.

It Wierd but Moth Balls Smell Reminds me of My Aunts House in Mexico I Love the smell of those Moth balls then her Pantry Smells soo nice not like Moth Ball But All Kinds of Cookies Cinnamin Rolls and Lots of other food mmmmm

And the Smell of Boiled Poatoes & Tacos or Soup Reminds me of Family Gathrings in Mexico

Where in Mexico did you live at Jacob and for how long? Learn any spanish while you were there? :cool2:

Interesting topic! Actually, this is ironic because after being sick last week, I actually THOUGHT about a certain smell that reminded me of my childhood. My mom always made us kids use Vick's vapor rub or "Ben Gay" when we were ill with breathing/coughing issues. I was thinking last week that I really needed that stuff!

And ugh, Cheryl...hockey odor!! Oh, it's the WORST!!!! I'm glad my son doesn't play anymore just for that reason alone!

Every time I smell fried okra I think of my Grandma. She knew I loved the stuff and so every time I was there she "cooked me up a mess." I also used to sniff her amber colored bottle of Vitamin C. It smelled SO good!

Yea, Moth balls make me think of my Great-Grandma's house, too! And my Grandmother, and my Aunt.......

KFC--chicken...reminds me of my aunt..cuz she used to love to eat that...

apple pyes cuz my grandmother used to bake a lot of pyes..

Gin wrote:

Every time I smell fried okra I think of my Grandma. She knew I loved the stuff and so every time I was there she "cooked me up a mess." I also used to sniff her amber colored bottle of Vitamin C. It smelled SO good!

Oh, fried okra! That reminds me of my Grandma too. Her and I were the only ones in the house, when I was growing up, that would eat it. I often get it when I go to Cracker Barrel. And I think I tell the kids every time, about how much my Grandma loved her fried okra, lol. I still love the stuff.

Oh, and another scent is Avon's lavender bubblebath. My grandma used it in her bath every night and the upstairs, where she stayed, always smelled of that pleasant scent. Still to this day, I have one whiff of that scent and I am back upstairs in my grandma's room, watching The Love Boat, lol.

Amy wrote:

Interesting topic! Actually, this is ironic because after being sick last week, I actually THOUGHT about a certain smell that reminded me of my childhood. My mom always made us kids use Vick's vapor rub or "Ben Gay" when we were ill with breathing/coughing issues. I was thinking last week that I really needed that stuff!

And ugh, Cheryl...hockey odor!! Oh, it's the WORST!!!! I'm glad my son doesn't play anymore just for that reason alone!

I love Vick Vapor rub smell! I'm a real fan of mint-eucalipthus smells...The more strong they are, the more I love them.

Vanesa.

The smell of creasote always reminds me of the the boardwalk at the beach.

I am a very olfactory person...smells can take me back, sometimes, to when I was a pre-schooler even. I love natural based perfumes, foodie smells, soap smells, all of it...(almost...don't like gross smells!)

The smell of certain soaps takes me back to earlier times about faster than anything. Dial soap, patchouli scented soap, and lavender scented soaps are the best. :cowgirl: