Call it cathartic, but I felt I had to share this story with you. I am nearly 50 and have been a cop for 28 years . Being in this profession, you tend to get a bit hardened, overly sarcastic, aloof and harbor a dark sense of humor, although, I have never devolved into an "us versus them philosophy", nor will I. That being said, I tend to be one of those types that keeps things to myself, the exception being all the bloviating I do in my posts on this forum. I had read one time in interview/investigator training, how, during victim interviews, scent is a powerful "profile" and oftentimes victims can recall events and more specifically the scents they perceived at the time of the critical incident. (Bad breath, gasoline, musty etc) I had one of those moments the other morning. As I said, I am 50 in a few months and lost my dad to cancer at the age of 14. Of course, doing the math, he's been gone 36 years, far more gone than with me. Nevertheless, there are those fleeting memories of things we did while he was here before God called him home. The other morning, I got home from graveyard shift and was sorting through the box I received in the "Box" Tour" that @fishcrow so generously orchestrated. In the box I found I found a bottle of "Old Spice" long lasting cologne from "Shulton, New Jersey". Now I have smelled the current P&G "Original" scent OS and thought, "Eh, I kinda remember that stuff." but to be honest, it really did not hold my attention. I opened the bottle, splashed some on my hands and self, and with seconds started tearing up and thinking of my dad. I was instantly and immediately returned to the state of being a small kid, sitting in a bathroom that smelled of steam and cigarettes (Hence dad's cancer), an AM talk radio station playing, watching my dad shave. I remembered him putting shave cream on my face and letting me use either a completely dulled out razor, or a empty DE safety razor. What I most remembered though, was that smell of Old Spice. In all honesty, I don't recall my dad ever wearing anything but Old Spice. The smell locked itself into a memory storage area everytime my dad hugged me before he went off to work. I went to bed that morning, remember my days are 12 hours opposite regular human beings, and drifted off smelling that scent that evoked such a visceral response moments earlier. When I got up in the afternoon, I met the wife in the kitchen of our small house, and splashed a small bit of the Old Spice on the back of my hand. My wife asked what it was, and I showed her the bottle and tried to speak. She could tell something was bothering me and I started to tell her about the Old Spice, and my dad, and completely fell apart into a blubbering mess. I couldn't even talk! After about the third try at telling her the story, I finally got most of it out. She just hugged me and said "It's okay...I miss my daddy too" (And he's alive on the other side of the country) So, hopefully I didn't bore you here with my long winded diatribe, I was just curious how many of you have ever had an emotional, visceral response such as this? Thank you for letting me share, and even more so, thank you to whoever put that bottle of Old Spice in that box!
Incredible story! I was raised by a firefighter/paramedic, (my father) and had many close law enforcement friends. I must say I have so much respect for all of those who serve in law enforcement, and will send up a prayer for you, and all of the law enforcement with today's turmoil. I understand what you all risk, and thank you so much for the job you do. Seth
Love can bring tears. It means you're still ok. Thanks for being one of the good guys. Parliament cigarettes do something similar to me. They transport me to being child and watching my Grandfather smoke beside me as we fished in North Georgia. He was a ww2 vet, and a stern man who didn't show physical affection easily or often. But even as a young boy, I knew by the way he talked to me and the way he looked at me that he loved me. I miss him.
Thanks for sharing. I most certainly agree that Scents can be strongly tied to a memory. You mentioned that your Dad probably wore nothing but Old Spice. Do you think it's harder to have that "signature scent" with the amount of variety we have today? I hope to pass down similar memories to my two boys. They will hopefully never own a cartridge or canned goo. They also like to lather up and pretend with a bladeless DE.
They say nothing can transport you faster to another time and place as our olfactory system...And yes, I can completely identify....You've been blessed, by having that olfatory incident...It's times and events like those that help us to renew and strengthen our bonds with our loved ones.... Thanks so for sharing this...I think it will help many of us with dealing with similar feelings...I know it's been nice for me...I had a similar kind of thing, with Old Spice actually...Although my Pop had only been gone for like a year at the time. But the Old Spice connection took me back to being a child...I guess I didn't identify my Pop in his later years with OS... Thats also I think one of the beautiful things about this shaving hobby...Now I kind of feel like I'm bonding with my Dad, almost everytime I shave...The brush, and whipping up a lather...we have every moment of our lives with those dear to us, in our memory, and it is priceless anytime something can trigger those memories, and it makes us smile, even though a tear my stray... And I dig what JR is saying....We are establishing new memories with those we love...That they will rediscover many years from now aswell...It's important to plant good images that can be cherished later....Like the time you teach a child to make lather or whatever...I know my Pop sure had my beside him with a toy safety razor and cardboard blade wiping lather off...ha,ha...We can pass on these life defining moments aswell.....
I have a similar experience when I smell juniper wood, specifically smoke from juniper wood. My best friend passed away 10 years ago. He was 8 years older than me, was married on my birthday when I turned 13 and was a big brother to me. He was one the kindest, most honest good people I have ever know. When I as in poor and in college he used to take my camping and our campsite had all of of juniper bushes so we also used juniper wood for our campfire. A few years ago I looked for a perfume that had a similar scent and found it in Creed Baie de Geneviere. When I smell I can close my eyes and seem Ken before he was lost to early Alzheimer's and sometimes I think I can even hear him. It is amazing how powerful the feelings are from just smelling that perfume. It brings back many happy memories.
You know JR that is a good point. We live in a time where there is a new product seemingly every month so it's hard, especially in an ADHD society (Guilty!), to stick with just one item/scent/soap for any length of time. I am glad you have your boys to share your hobby with. I have tried to impart it to my daughters who will occasionally raid my supply but generally they like the perceived ease and time savings of disposables.
While I don't recall ever having as strong a visceral response, I can certainly relate to the scent/memory connection. Growing up we had a cedar lined closet for wool outerwear; my grandfather would gather black walnuts in the fall and keep them in a bushel basket under the basement stairs of his home; my dad had an old sweatshirt for Saturdays and a special pillow for weekend naps and both smelled like cigarettes, Old Spice, and Brylcream; these are just a few that immediately come to mind. Others include less specific things like the smell of a car interior in the junkyard (for you old car buffs), walking into a barbershop, lumberyard, meat market, or other establishment that has a specific smell. I do have one smell though, that I can't figure out. Whenever I use Alpa 378 aftershave I'm transported back in time but I can't put my finger on why.
A very moving and touching story. Thanks for the share. To this day Mennen Skin Bracer evokes memories of my dad. I keep a bottle in my Den. And thanks again for your service in LE, especially in this time when you brave people are a target by of so many crazy people.
I have many similar scent memories: Half & Half pipe tobacco, my father's father White Owl Cigars, my mother's father Avon Wild Country, my dad Noxema face cream, my grandmothers
Thanks for sharing. The scent of vintage Old Spice invokes immediate memories of my Grandpa and my Grandparents house, which I spent a lot of time at (they lived down the street) as a kid. I was lucky enough to find three bottles of 70's Old Spice at a flea market last month and like you, had that " this is the stuff I remember" moment. Oddly enough my dad wears Aqua Velva which I prefer the scent of, but no real emotional response other than noticing the scent fondly when Im around him.
Great story! My Dad was an Aqua Velva man for the most part, and he used Tabac soap in his own mug. Those scents remind me of him and make me feel closer to him.
Great story. My father will have been gone 30 years next April. He was an Old Spice guy as well. Funny the things that keep them alive in our hearts. God bless you and keep you safe.
