You know how sometimes the smell of something in the air makes you recall an old memory or reminds you of a place? Or a sound? Or something someone says? How does that work with the brain? Why does it make you remember a specific memory? Why not several different memories?
But me? I am, perhaps, what you might call…weird. Today, it was the way my feet feel in my shoes that took me back to the one time one of the times I fell in the shower.
I was living with my parents at the time. I think I was a sophomore in college. I had come home from refereeing a volleyball game at the YMCA and felt like I was coming down with something. I was definitely feeling a little feverish so I decided to hop in the shower thinking that hot water would feel really good.
Let me back up just a little. We were living in a 2 bedroom condo at the time. My parents were both in the living room. My dad was watching tv and my mom was reading. When I came in I told them I didn’t feel good and I was going to hop in the shower.
So, I hopped into the shower (well, really more like feebly climb into the shower) and started to wash my hair. As I’m rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, I close my eyes, lose my balance and fall. I won’t lie. It wasn’t graceful at all. There was a lot of wild flailing and contorting that would have made anyone in Cirque du Soleil green with envy. I grabbed at anything and everything to try to stop my fall. It was a losing battle all the way down.
Tub: 1
Me: 0
My parents heard me falling and the following conversation proceeded in the living room while I was trying to figure out if I’d broken anything:
Mom: What was that?
Dad: I think she fell.
Mom: Maybe you should go check on her.
Dad: [blank look] Um, shouldn’t you go check on her? I don’t think she’ll want me in there while she’s in the shower.
Mom: [blank look]
I think in the end, my mom came and checked on me. Amazingly enough, I didn’t break any of my bones and the tub was just fine. Porcelain bastard.
What I can’t figure out is what on earth does that memory have to do with the way my feet feel in my shoes? Because (and this is just between you and me), I don’t wear shoes in the shower.
psssst! over here! I have actually been doing a little spinning, but haven’t photographed it because you’ve already seen it. I finished spinning the rest of the pink/black/white roving. I’ve also started on the second sock for B and I’ve still got to get some 24″ size 9 circulars before I can finish Shanon’s hat. Maybe I’ll take pictures one day soon, but don’t hold your breath just yet.
You don’t wear shoes in the shower? I used to. But that was back when I was in college and the communal shower stalls were pretty gnasty. And they were really flip flops, not sneakers or anything.
And no, that has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to share.
I have one of those “falling-in-the-shower” stories. As a matter of fact, it’s very much like your story! When I was in my teens (don’t remember how old exactly) I had the flu and thought I was feeling better, so I went to take a shower. Well, I closed my eyes to rinse the shampoo from my hair, went to reopen them and everything was completely black. (Shock, I guess?) Well, I freaked out, stumbled and fell out of the tub. My mom comes busting in the door, grabs me and pulls me to my room. My eyesight came back just in time to see the very shocked look on my younger brother’s face as my naked body was dragged down the hallway. How embarrassing.
What does sneakers have to do with the shower, anyway?
I notice as I get older, memories come back at the oddest of times. I’ll be looking at some rocks and will suddenly remember how my mom used to spit in the rocks outside our front door when she was pregnant with my baby sister–20 years ago. (My god, am I that old?) Anyhow, I know where you are come from with recalling things. Sometimes I wonder if I’m dying because my life is always flashing before my eyes! LOL!
(And I’m really not all that old.)