Dove

Isn't it shocking how sometimes the most ordinary thing sparks a memory that is so clear, so distinct, so touching, that you feel it with all your senses? This has been happening to me every day for almost 2 months now, and I finally feel an urge to share.

For the past year I've been having trouble with insanely dry skin, so, I have been through every soap on the market trying to get some relief. Two months ago, after a failed attempt at another shower time soap regiment, I picked up a box of Dove soap...and hence my little daily walk down memory lane began...

Every day when I get in the shower I am surrounded by the smell of Dove soap...so simple, so un-newsworthy to most people, but not to me. That smell takes me back to my grandmother's house (Gran), & to so many times with a woman we are sadly losing a little piece of each day to Alzheimer's. My sister & I used to love to spend the night at Gran's house. She had shag carpet that creaked at the seams when you walked on it, a pair of fuzzy house shoes with a slight heel that clonked on the tile she let us wear after our baths, and a vanity dressing area with hundreds of shades of eyeshadows and one of those day/dusk/office lighted make-up mirrors. The bedroom Erin and I slept in had a 4 post bed with a comforter on it that looked like you could fall from 3 stories up and still land softly. She'd always have the heated blanket on when it was cold, and she kept a special night gown for us - an oversized Spud McKenzie dog t-shirt (whatever that was, I guess a big deal in the late 80's) that I was obsessed with wearing. Her bathroom had yellow carpet, an avocado green tub, and yellow and green wallpaper with flowers all over it. We took a bath in there....always with bubbles, and ..... dove soap. Gran always smelled like Dove soap at night, and her hands were so soft I can remember telling her that I hoped my hands felt like hers did when I got really old...lol.

For some reason, all these years later, after a Sunday night Wal-Mart trip for groceries and soap, I have come across such an amazing way to begin/end my day. I think it's a blessing actually, because there's not been a day go by in 2 months that she hasn't crossed my mind. I know one day soon she won't remember me, but it sure is comforting to know there are things I have that help me never forget her house, her touch, her smell, and .... Her.