It's 2 am rn where I live, and any writing I should be doing is all those requests I have piling up bc I refuse to say no to catch up. I will do them, scouts honor.
But yesterday I had the weirdest thing happen to me. So idk how many of you are familiar w Vacation Bible School, but my church does it for a week during the summer, and they provide dinner and there's a ton of kids and it's fun. Well, it started yesterday night, and I was in line for food.
Sounds normal, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing triggering, but then, I suddenly catch the scent of the woman in front of me. I understand how weird that sounds and I thought of about 3 different ways to say that, but they all sound weird.
Well, I can smell the perfume or whatever on this young woman in front of me, and all I can think of is my mom. It is often said that the sense of smell can trigger the most memories, and it's true. I had flashbacks to when I was in the 1st grade, when it was just me and my mom living with some of her cousins in South Carolina. It was such a specific feeling. And I just started to tear up.
Anyone that knows me, or has read my pointless ramblings about my life knows that my parents are separated and now that I live with my dad, I only get to see my mom during long breaks. Right now my mom and stepdad are saving up to bring themselves and my brothers to my graduation next year, meaning I, unfortunately, couldn't see her this summer and won't be able to over Christmas.
Idk I just suddenly got so sad out of nowhere, and it was so weird. I was basically just crying while waiting in line for spaghetti. Luckily, I don't think anyone saw me bc that would be so difficult to explain to someone. "Oh, this lady's perfume made me emotional." That would be understandably laughable, and I'm rlly weird about ppl seeing me cry anyway.
All in all, I just wanted to share that strange experience bc I figured why not? Maybe this can help someone out. This is a writing community and ppl are always looking for ways to add to their characters and storyline. Maybe scent-triggered memory scenes might add to someone's fanfic. Idk. I need to stop now. M'kay.
~Mariah
