Smells Like Childhood

 It's true that there is always that one familiar smell that brings you back to a moment, a time when things were much simpler. I get nostalgic when I smell grass freshly cut in the Spring or the scent of warm pavement during a rain storm. But there is one smell in particular that gets us all. A scent that brings us all home.

 I have one smell that really brings on memories of a time that I don't really remember myself. Before my parents were divorced when we lived in Drayton Valley. I was much too young to really have memories but I feel like this smell brings me back to that time. I haven't smelt it in awhile but every once in awhile I'll smell a trace of it and before I even realize it, it's gone. That's the new car smell but in an older vehicle. I know that sounds really silly but whenever I smell it, it takes me back to the park across from our house in Drayton. The smell of hot car seats wafting that new, musky car smell.
 Another smell I encountered was when I was working for a pharmacy that dealt with nursing homes only. We would package the meds and then have them sent off to four or five different homes across the island. One day when I was filling out some orders, I came across Boudreaux's Butt Paste for diaper rash. I could smell the ointment through the packaging and it really took me back. I have no idea how far back seeing as it's diaper ointment. Perhaps my mom used it on me and the scent triggered my memory. Smell- a very powerful sense.

 The other day my mom came by. She's been growing sweet peas outside of her balcony at her apartment. She brought me a water bottle full of them to put in our condo that we're staying at at the resort. The moment she plunked them onto the kitchen table I could smell them. She later commented that I said, "Mmm smells like my childhood." I remember when I was in grade three, she would walk outside with me to the deck, snip me one or two sweet peas to take with me on the bus. She did that every day for months. It's a fond memory and one that I am reminded of now, each time that I walk into the kitchen.

 What smell makes you nostalgic?