MONDAY MEMOIRS - SMELLING MEMORIES

Have you ever thought about how strong your sense of smell is?
What happens when you smell these things?
1. A pine scented candle
2. Cinnamon Rolls
3. Homemade bread
4. Roses
5. The air from a dryer vent in the laundry room
6. Leather Furniture
7. The ocean
8. Old books

Well, for me, when I smell these things, I immediately think...

1. Christmas time - decorations - friends - family - gifts
2. Baking homemade Cinnamon Rolls with my grandmother - how she looked - being a little girl - how much I miss Grandma
3. My mother-in-law - when we got our new breadmaker - bakeries
4. My anniversary - funerals - my yard
5. Fresh clothes - work - my mom doing laundry
6. My dad's house - my office - my new furniture - my grandfather
7. Our trip to Virginia Beach - my kids when they were little - The boat that took us around Alcatraz
8. My grandpa's books - an estate sale I went to once long ago - how much I love reading - being in a book store

Isn't it funny how one smell can transport us to places we haven't been in years, and help us remember things from long ago?

I was reading through some posts from my cancer blog recently. I found one about the sense of smell, that made me remember something that happened a couple of years ago. I thought I'd share it here, and see if I'm the only one who ever had this happen...

SENSE OF SMELL TRIGGERS EMOTIONS: Thursday, September 17, 2009
"Something weird happened to me this morning in the shower. Last year, during most of my surgeries and during chemo, I used this body wash soap (Olay Ribbons with lotion). But, I haven't used it for quite awhile. This morning I opened the bottle and used it. Mistake! As soon as I smelled the soap (which actually smells really good), I started having flash backs to all of that awful stuff! It was so weird. I thought about showering with drains in my chest, showering with just barely enough energy to get in and get out, showering and almost fainting from sickness, etc. It was very unpleasant. The same thing has happened to me when I've used the body powder with the chamomile scent that I used during chemo.

Isn't that weird? Has this happened to anyone else? I guess our sense of smell triggers memories and emotions. Interesting.

By-the-way, I won't be using those products anymore. Yeah."

Just reading that post made me sick to my stomach - isn't that funny? I thought for today's Monday Memoirs, I'd ask you to take out your cancer journal and write about this. What things did you use, or eat, that you can't use and eat now? For those of you who haven't had cancer for several years, how long does this reaction last? Comment and let me know.

Have a good day,
Kara