Memories of lavender

 At 61 years of age I suffer a lot of body pain with my fibromyalgia. One of the ways I try and ease that pain is with a hot epsom salt bath. About a year ago I discovered a product I love. I use it three times a week. When I received it I wasn't expecting the scent that wafted out of the bag when I opened it. Lavender. Not just a light scent,... but lavender oil. A deep heady smell. And it instantly brought me back to a memory from years ago.

When I was a child one of the things our family would do was to go ot the annual Canadian National Exibition in Toronto. My Dad was a british gardener. And one of the things he would do is go down to the horticultural building every year at the CNE. With him I would hold his hand so as not to get lost in the overwehlming crowds. We would look at all the plant and flower displays. He would tell me what each plant was but I never remembered. I was just happy to be spending time with my Daddy. It was during one of these excursions when I came across a lavender display. We stopped to look at all the beautiful arrangements. The smell was everywhere. It hung in the air thick. I remember breathing it in and telling my Dad that I loved lavender the best. So he bought me this little ornament. Which over 50 years later I can't actually remember the ornament itself. But it had lavender oil in it. It smelled delicious and I carried that thing around for the rest of the day. Every once in awhile getting the faintest whiff of it as I swung the bag playfully around. When I got home I put that ornament on my shelf in my bedroom. It sat there until I left home after getting married nearly 20 years later.

Back to the present,... I had bought this epsom salt with lavender oil in it. When I opened the seal the thick smell of lavender emit from the bag. And I was instantly brought back to that memory of my Dad and I at the CNE when he bought me that lavender ornament. Over fifty years later that smell still comforts me with feeling safe with my beloved father.

It's funny how powerful smell can be when it comes to memory. Plasticine,... lavender,... chlorine (from all the hours of swimming in the local rec centres),... bonfire smoke from all the camping we did as a family,... crayons,... all these aromas bring me back to a time from my childhood. Happy days when I felt safe and carefree and loved and wanted. Maybe THATS why I love the 1960's and 1970's the best. My childhood. Because it ended up being the only time in my life when I felt safe and loved.