Lilac Blossoms and Cherished Memories.

We buy all our home fragrances at Bath and Body Works now. I absolutely love their huge selection and we can switch it up whenever we want. Plus their plug-ins seem to last for 6 months…

I purchased “Lilac Blossoms” room spray last week. I absolutely adore the smell of fresh lilacs. It brings me back to my teenage years and the carefree wonders of adolescence. Every time I use this spray (among our zillions of others because they last forever) I am reminded of being back in Paxton, Nebraska. The first time I sprayed it in our living room I was unprepared for the flooding of memories I would have of my hometown.

Paxton can best be described as a quiet town just off of Interstate 80 in Nebraska. It’s a quaint little town of 700. It’s particularly famous for Ole’s Big Game Bar and Grill. The school system is competitive and successful in its academics as well as sports. The school is consolidated with Keystone and Roscoe, NE. I graduated in a class of 22—particularly large for Paxton.

The people are all very friendly. You knew everyone you saw. You knew where everyone worked. You couldn’t go somewhere without someone knowing you. It was a very typical small town. It certainly wasn’t surprising to see your school teachers in the bar on Saturday enjoying a few drinks.

I can’t say my high school journey was marvelous and continuously happy. I don’t think everyone had a perfect high school journey. But I was comfortable, I had the greatest friends and I had fun.

We lived in cozy white house on Highway 30. My dad, Steve, renovated the basement to include 3 extra bedrooms so that his children wouldn’t be forced to share their rooms. Our home had a humongous yard that wasn’t particularly fun to mow in the summer. Along the west side of the house was a cluster of lilac bushes 5 feet thick and 100 feet wide. There was another large cluster on the east side in the dead center of the yard. When they blossomed in the spring you could smell them from 3 blocks away! They were absolutely gorgeous in full bloom and the fragrance knocked you off your feet.

I’ll never forget waking up in May in Paxton… The school year was almost done, the sun was shining, Dad was always whistling in the morning and that unmistakable aroma of lilacs just filled the entire house.

I’m sad to say I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should’ve. But that small can of spray brings all my favorite memories of Paxton flooding back.

The time my friend Amy tripped in front of Ole’s and threw her arms out a la Superman. I can’t remember I time I laughed so hard.

Mark Hehnke’s sandwiches for lunch. Man, I miss those. They were stacked a mile high with the thinnest sliced meet, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese mayonnaise… Not sure what made them so damn good, but nobody could make a sandwich like Hehnke’s.

Early mornings on the bus to a Track and Field meet. The smell of the crisp morning air. My crappy 90’s “warm up” music.

Being an official “Prowler” for Paxton High School. That was the dance team. A girl in my sophomore class and a senior pioneered the dance team. It was a huge success for about 7 years and died off like most things do (other than volleyball, basketball and track).

Being the 2nd member of Paxton’s speech team and watching the team grow to more than 15 before I graduated.

My mentor and English Teacher Margaret Wilkie.

The Green at the Berean Church in Ogallala. It was the high school fellowship.

I could go on and on forever about the memories I relive when I smell a cluster of lilacs… But I think you get the drift.

What smells do this for you?