Take Me Back

I bought a new bottle of hairspray today. I know, nothing extrodinary. Except it was, when later in the day I opened the sprayer to get a whiff of its scent. Rather then getting a sense of the fragrance that would surround my head as I fix my hair tomorrow morning, I was immediately transported back in time.

The year was 1989 -- I know that seems like forever ago. And in my poor-memory mind it is. That was my freshman year of high school. And like something out of a movie, as soon as I inhaled that Pantene ProV, I time warped to a time when I was standing in Chantel Clifton's bathroom getting ready to go to a football game. She was one of my first high school friends that did not go to the same grade school as I. Growing up in a somewhat small area in a limited Catholic school setting, most of my friends were people I had known since first grade. Chantel, though I did know her a little from 8th grade dances our schools would jointly have, was one of the first people I got to know outside my click.

Though the memories of us getting ready to go to football games had not crept into my mind in almost a decade, it so quickly hit me when I sniffed the spray. Though I cannot remember all the details of her home, I do recall using a gallon of Aussie Scrunch Spray and too much make up to primp. I remember that she had a huge bedroom, or what seemed like a big room to me (I shared a small room with my sister, so anything was a huge bedroom if it had only one kid in it). The coolest part was that we were at her home alone - no parental supervision. We were listening to Poison, and I felt like a grown-up though I was only about to be 15.

Maybe my blast from the past moment was a compilation of many weekends spent at her house that year, I am not sure. What I am sure of was how powerful that memory flooded my mind. For a few brief seconds I was there again. I was young and carefree. Everything was exciting because it was a time of building life long experience, a time before we become jaded and bitter. It was a great feeling.

It is funny how things are connected in your memory and that the slightest action can trigger the most awesome effect. It was nice to have that memory again, to recapture a long forgotten feeling that really can only happen once in a life. Had I sniffed the hairspray at the store, like I usually do before buying, I do not think I would have had the same reaction. I think because I was slowing down for the day, putting the hairspray away in my bathroom, that the connection was made.

It is nice that those memories are still there. Sometimes it is hard to think back or recall anything because we are so bogged down with everyday life, which so far seems to be getting boggier as I get older. Maybe those memories are buried deep so that we appreciate them more when they are triggered. I know that tonight, the rarity of the feeling that trip back in time brought will make me laugh long into the night.