Everyday Thoughts
A Yellow Bar of Soap Brings Back Golden Memories
Bathing with a bar of Dial soap on a recent morning cleansed my body and cleared my mind. I had been using it for a couple of days after finding it in the back of a closet. Dial isn’t my usual brand but it was the only bar on the shelf. When I removed the wrapper, I noticed a familiarity with its scent.
The next time I used the soap, the smell carried a memory that was too far to grasp. However, I remembered why the lone bar was in my house. Before having arthroscopic shoulder surgery, I was instructed to bathe with Dial the morning of the procedure. I bought a two- or three-pack of bars because I couldn’t get just one.
There is scientific proof that scent and memory are intertwined. It includes words like “olfactory,” amygdala” and “hippocampus.” I don’t need to understand how it works because I have experienced it. When I had my first baby at 31, the smell of Desitin diaper rash ointment was instantly familiar. Was I remembering my own infancy, or was it a memory of babysitting when I was 14? Either way, it had been a long time since I had experienced it. If I had been blindfolded, I would have known the scent.
Reclining in the clawfoot bathtub in my old house, I raised the soap bar to my nose. And I remembered. My beloved Grandma used Dial. I thought about visiting the homes in which she lived while our lives intertwined – 39 years. She probably had Dial in every soap dish, although my memories of her aren’t that detailed.
When my grandma died, I wanted many of her possessions, not because I really liked them, but because I really loved her. Although it’s not my taste, I have been using her dining room set for more than 20 years because she needlepointed the eight chair seats, a task I witnessed. It took years – or what seemed like years in my young mind – to complete because she was working full time.
In an all-of-a-sudden moment that actually took a long time to develop, I realized it’s not Grandma’s dining room table, or her dishes or silverware, that make me smile. It’s the memories of Christmas Eve and Easter dinners with my family that are special. I recall the look, taste and smell of the special meals she prepared as much as I remember my brother and me putting black olives on our fingertips for a cool holiday look. I don’t need the table as a reminder.
As my husband and I raised our family, we developed our own traditions and blended them with the special moments we experienced as children. Our now-adult children’s memories aren’t focused on where we ate the meals. They remember enjoying them together.
It’s time for me to release ownership of furniture and retain memories. I’m looking forward to choosing a table and chairs that match my style. And when the last bar of Dial soap dwindles to a sliver, I’ll unwrap a new bar of my favorite soap.
Gina is currently a correspondent for the Community News Brief. She has worked in healthcare marketing and communications for 34 years. Gina is a graduate of Western Illinois University, where she was editor-in-chief of the Western Courier. The Community News Brief is proud to have Gina on staff and we hope you enjoy her 'Everyday Life' column.
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