Memories

Isn't it funny how your senses can take you back in time to a certain memory? When you see, hear, taste, or smell a certain thing it can trigger a far away memory. My grandparents have not been with us for a few years. But there are so many things that come up in the day-to-day living that reminds me of them or makes me feel as if they are standing beside me. Certain foods or baked goods reminds me of one or both of my grandmas. It's a good feeling. But then there are some things that happen that just make me laugh when I experience their closeness.

My dad's mother was an excellent seamstress, quilter, crocheter, & knitter. She loved her crafts. She was very organized. She was what most people would call a "neat-freak" today . She would store everything away that was out of season. When it was time to take things out of storage for the current season, it was quite a chore. And it was just as much work to store away the past season's items. One time I was with her when she took things out of storage. There was a horrible smell. I thought grandma was experiencing some major problems. Being a kid, I could get away with asking embarrassing questions. After I questioned her about it, she laughed and showed me where the smell was coming from. She always packed a lot of mothballs inside of the item she was storing. I told her that it was no wonder that bugs wouldn't bother it because it stunk SO badly. But I couldn't figure out why she needed to put mothballs in anything. Her house was spotless. You could eat off of her floors, they were so clean. I would have been shocked to see ANY bugs DARE to set one foot (or wing) inside of her house!

My grandma passed away in 1999. When my grandpa passed away in 2001, my dad & his sisters had to pack up everything that was in the house. My dad gave me one of the quilts that my grandma had made that was in storage. After I got it home, I decided to wash it and put it on my daughter's bed. When I unfolded it and shook it out...a bunch of little wadded up white things went flying everywhere. My daughter said, "Whewie, Mom you stink!" All I could do was stand there and laugh with tears in my eyes and say, "Oh, Grandma!!!"

We have had that quilt since 2001. My daughter puts it on her bed every winter. It has had A LOT of washings since it was given to us. The smell was gone before we put it on the bed the first time (after it was washed and rinsed 2 or 3 times, I might add). Last week, it was time to wash it again. When I pulled it out of the washing machine, there was the strongest smell of mothballs. I stood there for a moment and a smile and a calm feeling came over me. That smell made me feel like my grandma was reminding me that the things that we shared did not die with her and her love is still with me. It was a nice feeling! The funny thing is the smell was gone when I took it out of the dryer. There was NO smell left. This morning, my daughter was spraying perfume in the air over her bed. I asked her why she was doing that. She said this morning her quilt had a funny smell to it. A few minutes later I asked her to smell it again to see if it still smelled bad. She smelled it and said, "NO!"------

"Oh, Grandma!"