Scents

I love the smell of sandalwood. It brings me memories of when we'd go visit my grandmother in her house when we were young. She always had some incense burning, smelling of -- you guessed it -- sandalwood. She had a big house, and the bedrooms were just humongous. But I remember thinking it was odd. Inspite of the big bedrooms, they were almost practically bare except for the bed, a small table and chair, and a cabinet. And they were always, always clean. The floors were always spotless and shiny. And my grandmother didn't have a helper to stay with her. For a time, I think one of my uncles (with his family) lived with her, but after they moved out, she was alone. So we'd always come see her in the weekends, and we'd play in her huge bedroom. Aaaaah......The time when life was much simpler.

It is wonderful how scents evoke memories. I guess I've always kind of known that but yesterday brought me a realization of how my kids are making their own memories -- and it puts me in the place where I want to impress on them simple things that, I hope, will be associated with good memories.

When I was in college, I always had with me a small bottle of white flower. You know, that menthol-smelling, clear fluid in the small, clear bottle? I always had migraines back then, and somehow, I only find relief from white flower dotted on my forehead and temples. Because I've always had it with me, it became sort of a cure-all for me. Kinda like how Vicks Vaporrub was with our parents. (Vicks could have worked, too, but I find it too mild. And speaking of Vicks, I see in my head, my dad spreading Vicks over his eyelids and sitting back to rest after working on his metal welding.) It was good for insect bites, muscles aches, crampy periods, stuffy noses and even when I get tummy aches on cold days. (Maybe it's just me, I don't know -- but if my tummy gets exposed to the cold on cold mornings, I get tummy aches. O, diba? Parang baby? Haha!) So when D was a baby, I used it on her whenever she'd have insect bites. When she was a toddler, I used it on her when she'd have tummy aches, too.

When we moved out of the country, I brought with me a couple of the bigger bottles of white flower. But since I didn't get to use it as much anymore, it was just in storage. Until yesterday.

A couple of days ago, A was complaining that her tummy hurt. When I touched her tummy, it was cold. Since I didn't have the time right then to look for my stash, we remedied her pain with a warm compress. And then I set forth to look for where I hid the white flower. Yesterday, after A complained again, I was ready. I put a few drops and rubbed it all over her tummy. She said it felt good. Nighttime came, and D walked over to me. She said they were playing and she noticed something on A's tummy. I didn't quite understand right away. I thought she found a smear of something or maybe the gel of the warm compress that A was playing with before I put white flower on her. She said no -- it was the smell of something, "I know that smell, but I don't know what it's called." And she liked it.

I have yet to quiz her what she remembers. I hope it's good.