Making Scents

I'll warn you ahead of time, this has nothing to do with stitching...LOL  I just had a walk down memory lane in my mind.  They say that scents can trigger memories, and boy did it today!

It's my Granddaughter's birthday today.  I was making a family favorite recipe of spaghetti and meatballs and it calls for Oregano.  Ahh...it brought back some memories!

When I was a kid (about 10 years old) my Mom went back to school to become a nurse.  They sat us down and said she would need a lot of time to study, and they knew they were asking a lot of us (my sister, who is a year older, and me) so we were going to have to do more chores than making our beds, doing the dishes and cleaning our room.  We were now responsible for cleaning the whole house, laundry and cooking.  We got a pretty good allowance (a dollar a week!) and we could do as we pleased on weekends as long as the housework was done.  Mom gave me an old Oregano tin that smelled of Oregano to stash my money in.  I would hang on to my allowance stored in that can and from time to time I would take it to the bank. 

As they years rolled by, and Mom eventually became a nurse, we never lost our responsibilities and over time our allowance increased.   When I turned 16 I applied for a Social Security card and a work permit and began cleaning houses, babysitting kids in the nursery during church, and other odd jobs.  I also volunteered as a Candy Striper, continued on as a  Girl Scout receiving my First Class Badge (the equivalent to Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts), and helped with a Junior Girl Scout troop.  You guessed it...all the money I dropped in my Oregano can until I had time to take it to the bank.  As the money sat in that old tin, it began to smell like Oregano!  I would get odd looks when I took it to the bank...LOL!!  

When I turned 17 and graduated from High School, I applied to a college in Northern NY.  What a surprise when I learned I had enough saved for my first full year of college!!  I worked two jobs during college and with the savings I still had left over I was able to pay for TWO more years!  I had to take a loan for the rest of the time at school....but it wasn't a big a loan as it would have been if I hadn't been saving all that time!  

A few years ago I was cleaning out my Mom's house, and guess what I found?  That old Oregano tin.  It still had some old coins in it (a silver dollar with the date I was born on it, and a few other things).  Guess what??  It STILL smells like Oregano.  I brought it home and as silly as it sounds, it's one of my favorite things I found while cleaning out the house.  Memories...this one gave me a huge smile on my face.  I wonder if my Granddaughter will have memories like that?  Maybe I should give her my old Oregano can?