When you were a tiny baby, your dad brought home a package of Mrs. Meyer's rhubarb scented cleaners for mother's day. This was not exactly my idea of a romantic gift but I was soon won over by the amazing smell - and by the fact that he was was excited to use them to clean the whole house.
I thought they were long gone but one of the bottles must have been lost in the back of the cupboard until yesterday, when someone pulled it out and cleaned the countertops with it.
Today, every time I walk through the kitchen and that smell hits me, I am blown away by brilliantly-clear memories of your first months home. Taking you for a walk with my mom. Changing your clothes. Helping your dad bathe you in the kitchen sink. Hovering over you, watching you sleep.
It literally feels like I've stepped back in time and it's just happened moments ago.
Brain chemistry is an amazing thing. This is an extremely fortuitous example of the physiological/psychological phenomenon that ties vivid memories to a specific odor.
So, it turns out that a box of cleaners is one of the most amazing gifts I've ever received. They don't carry it in the stores this year though so I'll be on the lookout for another source of rhubarb smell and possibly hoarding the last little bit in the bottle we have left.
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