Memories in A Zip lock Bag
A few days ago while going through a box that had been in the corner of my office for some time I came across a treasure in a smaller box I didn’t recognize. Opening it my eyes moistened as I saw Mother’s green, flowered head scarf, her pink, ruffled night cap, and her plastic,brown rain cap. I’d forgotten they came home with me last March when Mom passed away.
I picked the scarf up and brought it to my face and there she was … the mingled scents of her Chantilly Cologne and her Pantene Pro-V hairspray, brands she had been using for years. I closed my eyes and breathed it in and could almost feel her there beside me. She was such a sweet, dear Mama … and I sat for a few minutes thinking of her, particularly of her last year when she lived in one of the Beehive Homes in St. George close to us.
When I would go to see her there, which was almost daily, her sweet scent gently greeted me as I walked through the door to her room. I was so grateful it didn’t smell like a hospital or nursing home. While Mother was there she was so forgetful that she worried constantly that she would do something “wrong” or “foolish” so I used to make her little cards and tape them to her mirror or the wall by her chair telling her how and when to comb her hair, put on her lipstick, put on her cologne, turn on her television. She couldn’t always make sense from the cards but they seemed to comfort her anyway.
Gradually I noticed the strong scent of Chantilly was greeting me at the main doors of the home when I went to visit … and that it got much stronger the closer I got to Mom. About that same time I’d been wondering why her hair was always sticky and impossible to get a comb through it. I’d also noticed a rash under her ears and towards the front of her neck. I tried to diplomatically talk to her about her cologne and she assured me she only put it on in the morning … like the “sign in the bathroom says”. This went on for a couple of weeks as I tried to figure out what was happening that was so different. Then, one time I was waiting for her as she was preparing to go with me out to eat, I noticed her spraying her cologne on her hair … and hair spray on her neck. I quickly surmised that she was apparently in the habit of doing this every time she left her room, which was four or five times a day. “Aha …”
So it’s understandable that even ten months after her death, Mother’s unique combination of Chantilly and Pantene remains on her scarves. They are now folded tightly inside a sealed zip lock bag so I can go occasionally relish her scent and the spark of memories it ignites.
I can just imagine her smell as I read this! When she gave us her rocking chair I loved that it smelled like her. Unfortunately, after a couple moves, three kids, and a couple of extended stays in our garage it doesn’t smell the same. Good thing I can still “think” her smell.
I have and use her hair rollers that she used that stayed in her hair without pics. After my perms get clipped so many times then my hair needs to be rolled …. as I don’t want to get my perms too close together in time. Anyway I love using her rollers and I have the white little hair net that she covered them with and so I do that too. It’s funny I guess. but It seems to me that my hair looks especially nice on the first combing out after using her rollers. It no longer seems like such a ‘drag’ to have to roll my hair – because with each roller I have memories of mom and how she loved to have her hair rolled and combed. We are blessed that we had her with us for so many years – and the memories
linger on!
Scent is one of the strongest senses in the world, isn’t it? Amazing how even the faintest of aromas can send you back to another time, another place. I don’t blame you for keeping the plastic bag with her things in it. Precious memories indeed.