The scents of our lives ...

So, my last post got me thinking about this post.

We have five senses, right? So, what else can bring memories back into the front part if our brain? How about smells and scents?

What can take me back to good times? Bad times? Younger Days? Better days?

Aramis cologne. This smell makes me think of my Daddy. Over the years we have tried to buy him new and updated colognes. But he always goes back to his old stand-by, Aramis. And you know what? That makes me happy. It is just "my Dad." Before I left for college I sprinkled a teddy bear of mine with his cologne ... on bad days I just smelled it and always felt better.

Onions and celery, sauteing in butter. Weird? Probably. But every time I make a soup or stuffing and start with that combination and it starts to fill the room with its aroma, I think of my Mom. I especially think of her and when she would make our Thanksgiving dinner. The house would always smell like this for what seemed like days! It makes me feel so cozy and comforted.

Baby powder. Even though baby books instructed me to not use baby powder on my kids, I did. And whenever I smell it, I think of them as little infants, all clean after baths and snugly. Peaceful. Precious and tiny.

Chlorine. Well, really, its the smell of your skin about an hour after you have been in a chlorinated pool. Brian, the high school boyfriend, was a life guard. He always smelled like chlorine. The smell makes me think of easy times, fun times, times with no kids, bills or jobs!

Charcoal grill. Lit of course. AAhhhh ... the smell of a summer evening, sun starting to hit the horizon, the evening just starting. I think of times where my Dad would start to throw burgers on the grill for dinner. I think of days where my boys are running around the backyard as we start to grill a late dinner. I love the smell of that grill the feelings it stirs up!

Michael Kors perfume. I love, love, love this stuff. I like a lot of perfumes. But, I specifically bought this perfume for my wedding day. Whenever I wear it I remember walking down the aisle, cutting cake, toasts, first dances and first kisses.

Eternity for women. My girlfriend in high school wore this every day. Her car smelled like this. Her room smelled like this. To this day, whenever I smell Eternity I think of the good times we used to have back in the day.

Polo cologne for men. I banned E from wearing this cologne after we got together. My horrible, nasty ex used to wear Polo. He bathed in Polo. Drank Polo. Shit - he probably peed Polo. That is one smell that can bring up the dry heaves immediately.

Pickles. For some reason, every time I smell pickles, I remember scratch and sniff stickers. I remember sitting on our front stoop with my best friend flipping through our sticker books. I remember the nasty smelling ones - skunk, garbage, licorice and I remember the good ones - pickles, popcorn, pizza!

Root beer floats. My Grandpa made these for us every time we went to visit him. They always had Neapolitan ice cream and when they were out of vanilla ice cream, he would use strawberry. After he made our floats he would always take us out into the back porch and let us sit on the glider and drink them.

Coconut, specifically tanning oil with coconut. Remember those days? Laying around with your girlfriends, boomboxes blasting. Magazines spread out and our skin caked with tanning oil so we could catch some rays. Geesh - I miss that. I really do!

And, do you know what I noticed? When E left for deployment I went looking for something to hold into that smelled like him. You know what? He doesn't have "a scent." He rarely wears cologne and he switches soaps and shaving creams all the time. There wasn't one thing that I could pinpoint that made me think of him! I think I will have to work on that!

So ... what smells take you back? Coffee? Popcorn? Old Spice cologne?