The other night as I was washing clothes and preparing for our trip to the mountains I saw this old towel in the laundry room. Mind you that my mom has been cleaning out my grandparents house and there is so much of their stuff lying around the house. However, this purple towel caught my eye. Not that I normally pick up towels in the laundry hamper and hold them up to my face, but the old purple towel I did.
I buried my face into in hopes that just for a moment I could smell my grandparents. I wanted just another moment of them feeling so near. I ended up just sniffing the towel for about 5 minutes. I didn't want to put it down, but I knew I had to finish packing for the trip.
On the day that Pop died, I remember just taking deep breaths through my nose as I told him goodbye, I was savoring the smell of him. I did this with Nanny also. I wanted to preserve the smell in my memory so I would also have it.
As we all have been going through Nanny and Pop's belongings, I haven't had any desire to take anything that didn't have a "special" significance to me. Yes, I've taken a few items that were nice, but mainly the only thing I've gotten in a few shirts from their closets. I just wanted something I could bury my face into and know that their love is so close.
We do not remember days, we remember moments.
