Off topic. How long does a memory stay.

[Paula Marie Hamilton]

Sorry this is off gun topic, but I consider youall friends so wanted to share. My mom died end of Sept. She had Alzheimer's and 2 years ago I had to put her in a nursing home so I packed her appointment lockstock and barrel. I had surgery right after so never got back to her things. Now I'm going through them,, it's killing me, but I found a bag from the VA with my dad's clothes & few belongings. I assume this is from his last stay when he died in 1991. I was going to just pitch it, but decided to open it up first. It smelled like my dad. No kidding, it instantly transported me back to 1991. How the hell is this possible, or was it just me having a memory. Surly clothes in a plastic bag don't retain smells for 30 years. Anybody ever hear about this, or do I need to go get my head examined.

 

[lloydx2]

Sad, But nice. A little bit of your mom and dad are still alive (in you)

 

[spclark]

Sorry for the losses you’ve endured, Paula Marie. Those we’ve loved and lost stay with us as long as the memories we have from the times they were with us still evoke emotions within. You honor them both while holding your memories close in your heart.

My father passed early in 1995, mom followed mid-2011. I have many fond memories of them both I’ll carry with me, perhaps even beyond when my time comes.

 

[jds holler]

I've heard that the olfactory sense has the longest memory of all. Not sure if I spelled that correctly, but I meant sense of smell. jd

 

[Lannister]

Sorry for hear about your mom, it's hard to go on when you loose someone you love, I lost my sister and my dad so I know how you feel.
And talking about flashbacks, you're not alone. sometimes certain smell or conversation take me back to while I was a kids. and I would let my mom thing that happen while I was still very very younger and it always baffles her.

 

[butchlambert]

Paula, About 6 years ago my wife was cooking bacon from a pretty nice hog that I shot. That smell instantly put me in my Grand Mother's kitchen when she was cooking bacon from a fresh hog kill. That was about 1952. Something I will never forget.
It looks like he was a hero!

 

[DirtySteve]

Silver Star with a "V" device. Yes he was a hero in the truest sense of the word. Sorry for the loss of your mother...

I could not find the question about the bloop tube. But here is a link to a photo of a rifle with one.
http://accurateshooter.net/Blog/mattemmonstips.pdf

 

[JMayo]

I still do it, 40 + years and smells take me back. Sometimes shockingly so.
I don't have the ability to not to morn the loss of every deep relationship that has past through my life ...
I feel the loss some way every day. But I try not to get stuck there or obsession kicks in.
Thoughts and prayers for you.
Tears of loss turn into smiles of memories.

 

[Paula Marie Hamilton]

My dad's medals. The WWII medal with beachhead, the only really big battle he missed was invasion of N. Africa. He came in after but every other major one (Invasion of Sicily, Black Forest, The Bulge & Spearhead Omaha Beach). His Purple Heart and Bronze Star came from Korea. He took shrapnel in his back. Luckily he had a heavy coat on, but it was a phosphorus round so it burned through, but very lucky. Bronze Star story. He was a tank commander. He saw a guy down being tended to by Red Cross corpsman but Korea didn't follow the rules and were shooting the hell out of them. My dad drove his tank between them & the firing line and acted as a wall till they could pack the guy, then he drove back across till safty. The wounded guy died, but dad saved 2 corpsman and 7 other soldiers who had been pinned down. He was put in for silver, but was awarded Bronze with V. I grew up to war stories as a kid. Too bad the VA treated him like s#! t. Their poor treatment of him drove me to be a nurse, so I could make sure patients weren't treated like he was.

Funny thing is John was late hitting his growth spurt so he was always little John, but he looked so much like childhood pictures of my dad. Apparently he shoots like my dad as well ( dad was considered a sharpshooter).

Anyway that's my dad.

 

[Ohio Varmint Shooter]

Smells can be a VERY powerful reminder. You are most likely normal.

My dad died in 2017 at the age of 94. For my whole life (not just since he passed), the smell of Aqua Velva reminds me of my dad.

 

[ShootDots]

My father passed away in 1981. I can guarantee you that if he were to make a phone call to me right now, I would recognize his voice immediately! I can "still hear him", if you will.. There is another thing that is also puzzling but nice at the same time. There are songs I hear from back in high school or as an early adult, that can do amazing things to my memory! The instant I hear one of those songs, the "feelings" I had at that moment in time will come flooding back, along with the memories of that event or time in my life!

 

[TAJ45]

Not on the same level as the personal memories but Ditto on the songs.
One thing that I really, really miss is the specific fired smell of .22rf from the older days. That was so much a part of the plinking, shooting session.
NOT the current semi sweet smell that may be caused by the "Eley Prime". It just doesn't evoke or register the same. :/

 

[dickn52]

Bronze Star with the V for valor. Not handed out lightly either. I had the misfortune of being in the wrong place twice and getting 2 in Vietnam. You dad is my hero.

 

[expiper]

people who work with altzimers patients say that sounds and smells revive the memory with those who have serious memory problems,,,like a train whistle or the smell of fresh cut hay or grass,,,things that elderly folks whould have heard or smelled during their youth,,,,so I am shure it works with those of us who are still blessed with good health and memories ...Roger

 

[Hino895]

My wife has voice mails from her dad and my mom still on her phone after several years.
She says she listens to them occasionally,I can’t bring myself to listen to them.

 

[Tommie]

Take a whiff of popcorn and try not to think of going to the movies. Smell brings back powerful memories.

 

[Nature Boy]

Smells and tastes

Wish I could have both of those memories from my grandmother again.

Count yourself fortunate that your dads things delivered you to that place.

I’m afraid I’ll have to pass over to the other side to have the sensation of her fried chicken and biscuits again. She was awesome

So was your dad. What he earned battle speaks to the man that he was. You are right to be proud of him

 

[snert]

i have one of my dad's shirts. He died in 2009. It has lost its "scent" and it means less now...evokes less memory. So, yes, smells stay. Off topic a bit but I had a girlfriend who sent letters with perfume, back in 1981. i found that box when cleaning the basement of my parents home last year. Still had perfume smell in the box. yep...took me right back. Smells do it...and powerfully.

Alfalfa in a late summer day reminds me of my youth and takes me to groundhog hunting memories. I often think that God was talkingdirectly to me when he said he would "lay me down in quiet pastures".

My mom has alzheimers so i can relate to what you are dealing with. Hard to watch, but i am trusting that God is holding her soul close, even as her physical body fails.

 

[snert]

Oh...and Vitalis...that hair oil...smell takes me back to being four years old, sleeping in my parent's bed next to my dad when my mom was in the hospital. It was on his pillow. BOOM, I am 4 again, just like that.

 

[muleystalker]

Not on the same level as the personal memories but Ditto on the songs.
One thing that I really, really miss is the specific fired smell of .22rf from the older days. That was so much a part of the plinking, shooting session.
NOT the current semi sweet smell that may be caused by the "Eley Prime". It just doesn't evoke or register the same. :/

Freshly fired paper shotgun shells on an early morning dove or duck hunt, there is nothing like that smell,I love it and like you said it brings back so many memories of hunting with my dad and brother. It started at such an early age, I was still in diapers and my dad would tote me out with him into the field hunting.