So many sights, sounds, tastes, and touches evoke memories for me. Looking at images of my beautiful children, hearing cars whiz down the nearby streets on a warm summer’s night, tasting my attempt at one of my mother’s recipes and feeling the wind whip through my hair as I drive down the highway with my car windows open, are powerful time machines. However, my sense of smell is what evokes the strongest memories for me.
I am not a smoker, nor do I wish to be, but I derive great comfort from the smell of cigarette smoke, especially stale cigarette smoke. I recently purchased some fake plants from a used office equipment sale that was happening in the parking lot of my chiropractor’s office. If I had to guess, I would say that the building was built in the sixties, but since I like to be accurate, I looked it up. 1967 was the year the office building was built, damn I’m good. I knew it, partially because of the aesthetics of the place, but also by the smell of the building. The wallpapered hallways cling to the aromas of years-gone-by and that means, cigarette smoke, stale cigarette smoke, to be exact. Back in the day, folks used to smoke in their offices and such a practice did not end until around 2008. That means for about 40 years, folks smoked in that office building and created a force that would not go quietly into the night.
It is my estimation, that the fake plants I purchased, had possibly been in that building for a decade, absorbing, and assimilating the cigarette smoke, the stale cigarette smoke, that I safely tucked away in my car for a future visit with my brother. He’s been using them to decorate around the water fountain I gave him because the deer that frequent his yard eat all the real plants. Almost immediately, I could smell the stale cigarette smoke taking over my car. However, I did not find it repulsive, instead, I found great comfort in the memories it provoked. Memories of all the office buildings I had visited in my youth, the dentist’s office in particular, the one I still visit to this day, that evokes strong feelings whenever I visit it. It’s comforting to know that somethings never change and hopefully, never will.
My cousin Red and I became fast friends after a conversation we had at a wedding when we were around ten years old. We discovered that we both liked carrots and in our amazement of that discovery, we declared, “It’s like we’re twins!” That sentiment continues to this very day, it’s our own private joke and I adore it. I was blessed to visit with her recently and anytime we shared a similar sentiment we would declare, “It’s like we’re twins!” How wonderful it is to have someone in my life that provokes so many memories, even though I have difficulty remembering many of our childhood visits. I don’t know why, but I do not remember her visiting my home. Fortunately, she can remember for both of us.
We chat about what’s happening in the world currently, but more importantly, we chat about our memories of our parents. All four of them have passed, but they live on in our stories. Good times and bad, unearthed truths and possible lies, all come back to life because of our telling of them. Like the stale cigarette smoke, I find great comfort in the telling and listening of these stories. Simply by being in the presence of my cousin, someone who shares and embraces these stories as much as I do, is like being in a time machine and yes, “It’s like we’re twins!” Seeing her beautiful red hair, hearing her contagious laughter, feeling her strong embrace, takes me back to a time when I thought everything was going to be okay, life was simple, the rules were lax, and everybody smoked cigarettes wherever they liked.
I fully understand, that world no longer exists, but for a moment, I can pretend. As I inhale deeply while at my chiropractor’s or dentist’s offices, I find comfort in knowing that somethings will never change. Hopefully, the memories will remain intact whenever I view images of my beautiful children, hear the cars whiz by on a summer’s night, taste my attempt at my mother’s recipes and feel the wind whip through my hair as I drive with my car windows open. Most importantly, I will cling to the memory of two silly little girls talking about their likes and realizing that a lifelong friendship could begin with the simple agreement, that carrots taste good, we both like them and “It’s like we’re twins!”
#thelieswechoosetolivewith
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