"Strawberry" Kind of Memory

While fixing my strawberries & cream oatmeal this morning, a wave of nostalgia overtook me.  It was the strangest thing because I frequently boil water in microwave & pour it over the instant packet of strawberries & cream oatmeal, but I've never experienced this "memory" while doing this task.  It was actually the smell of the oatmeal cooking once I added the boiling water that brought me back...

It was a Saturday afternoon (it must have been in the fall), when I went across the street to a friend's house to play.  I must have been in the 2nd or 3rd grade because we were still living in Bastrop, Louisiana in a small wood-frame house about a mile from Eastside Elementary.  I can only remember my friend's last name for some reason... "Goodman".  She was a very lucky little girl (in my opinion) because she had great toys, dolls, & a trampoline.  I remember always wanting to play Barbies at her house because she had the actual "Barbie" doll whose legs would bend versus the generic doll I had who had hollow plastic legs that would not. She also had the whole collection of strawberry shortcake dolls! This is where my mind went this morning while making my breakfast, because the strawberry shortcake doll that my friend had could be squeezed on her tummy & she would expel a deliciously exhiliarating fragrance of strawberries.  It didn't smell like real strawberries, but it was a unique strawberry-like aroma that only THE real Strawberry Shortcake doll had.  Funny enough, the generic strawberries & cream instant oatmeal (Wal-mart brand of course) smells just like that Strawberry Shortcake doll.

 

It's amazing how the mind works.  Fragrances seem to have the most effect on me as far as memories. I actual enjoy most memories triggered by scents, so it's a nice thing to have my mind work like that!