Last Saturday as I was perusing the skin care aisle at WalMart (I was enjoying my childless shopping trip), I couldn't resist purchasing a small tub of Noxzema. Every time I take a whiff of this cream, it brings back a flood of childhood memories.
I remember looking at the classic royal blue tub while my mom curled my hair in the bathroom (I think when she wasn't looking, I would open it and smell it).
I remember her gently applying it to my sunburned skin (it always cooled the sting of the burn).
I remember receiving my first jar as a teenager- stumbling my way through puberty but excited by the prospect of using "grown-up" face cream.
So as I stood there in the aisle contemplating on whether I should buy it (I really didn't need it- I already have an arsenal of skin care products), I decided I just had to have it. I had to smell it and revel in nostalgia.
Noxzema is just one in a long line of "smell memories" that when inhaled lets waves of my childhood wash over me. I still have an ounce left of the Love's Baby Soft perfume my parents gave me in fourth grade. Every time I take a whiff, I remember the Christmas I received it. We were living in LA. We flew back to Kansas that year to celebrate with family. It was my first plane ride. Whenever I open I box of Fruit Loops (which is rare these days) and the fruity, lemony flavor wafts toward my nose, I am brought back to childhood vacations to Colorado when we were treated with sugar cereal in those small, travel boxes.
So, here's to smells and all the memories it brings back. Hopefully, some day, my kids will smell a whiff of vanilla and remember how much I loved burning vanilla-scented candles. And maybe that smell of vanilla will bring back happy, contented memories of home and childhood.
