A minor personal regret

I wish that I had routinely worn any particular cologne when my children were young.

Almost any brand would have worked. Nothing expensive or hip, necessarily, and even something as common as Brut or Old Spice would suffice. Just some particular scent for my kids to connect me with. Rather, one distinct aroma which they could one day connect to me.

Even better, one pleasantly distinct aroma with which my kids could one day connect with me, across the miles and years, eventually even crossing the spiritual strata between this and the afterlife. (Them here, me there.)

The third paragraph of this post by James Lileks got me thinking about this, and it's something which I've pondered before. The incredible memory-trigger of scent, and one which I've deprived my children of: Dad's cologne. A masculine aroma they would've come to know as mine, and might occasionally happen across as their lives unfold over the passing years, which would instantly transport them to that mental-emotional realm of memory.

And it's precisely why I would differ with James on the criteria for choosing a scent, which he comments on in his piece, "... mostly I don’t like cologne. It fades. It turns. In the end it all ends up smelling like Brut or some fresh citrusy anti-Brut, and it gets on your shirts... I’ll stick with my Eucalyptus-Spearmint profile, gathered from Bath & Body Works soaps and shampoos. I know that someday they will stop making it, and I will cease to have the same faint aroma I have today. That’s an odd thought, but true. Whereas guys will smell like some variant of Brut forever. They may call it something else...but it's...favored by too many gents to ever go out of style."

It's just that sort of popularity I'd be counting on, to keep my scent unexpectedly available. A serendipity awaiting discovery. An aromatic trigger to unlock dormant memories of dear ol' Dad, brought vividly to the present moment for them; hopefully to prompt a warm smile of fondness, and happy anticipation of reunion on the other side.

Perhaps it's not entirely too late- I'm still around and plan to be for awhile. Perhaps I'll go out and pick a cologne, or let my daughter select one for me. One that my kids can someday fondly recall me by, whenever they get a whiff of that aroma they could come to know as... Dad's cologne.

Brad