Strange how memories are triggered by sensory events that seem totally unrelated. As I was in the Jeep with my sleeping grandbaby this morning, waiting for my daughter and Little r to emerge from a big box store with a load of diapers, the scent of rain brought to mind an image of my father and I doing rounds of his patients at Johns Hopkins. Was it raining that day, too?
I must’ve been around 5 years old and my father would have been in his early thirties. I was wearing one of his white lab coats with the sleeves rolled up and the hem dragging on the floor behind me. The stethoscope around my neck banged against my thighs as we walked from room to room. Dad wore a similar coat, which must have had “Dr. Wm. E. Chase, Urology Department” embroidered above the pocket that also held one exquisite mother-of-pearl fountain pen. His stethoscope was identical to mine. Golden wire-rim glasses were perched on his nose and behind them his eyes were the same blue as mine.
We were accompanied by a flock of what I now know to be resident docs, in blue scrubs, carrying clipboards and calling me “Little Dr. Chase,” which made me feel happy. The sound of so many feet on the linoleum floor and the smell of iodine, blood and urine are still strong in my mind. I can see Dad washing his hands before and after each patient, and I can feel my own tiny hand encased in his, large and warm, as we move down the hall.
My dad introduced me to each patient, described in simple words the surgery he had performed, sometimes with drawings made using his fountain pen on whatever was available: a napkin, the back of a tissue box, even his hand. And after asking questions of the residents he would say to me, “Any questions, Princess?”
I always had questions unrelated to the patients. “Daddy, can I make the bed go up and down?” “Daddy, can I wash my hands, too?” “Daddy, can we have a treat now?” He’d smile, answer my questions and kiss me on the head. I can still feel his soft lips lingering there!
When we were finished with rounds, we’d head to the cafeteria for chocolate milk and an oatmeal cookie so delicious I’m drooling as I write this. I think it had raisins and pecans. And cinnamon. For sure cinnamon. And then my father would lift me up onto his shoulders and carry me out to the car for our drive home in the rain which, I’m pretty sure, smelled exactly like today’s rain. When we arrived my beautiful mama was probably waiting with my baby brother and our lunch, unaware that in just four years the love of her life, and mine, would pass on. That was over 60 years ago.
Happy Father”s Day, Daddy!
Johns Hopkinds Medical School Image: http://urbanhealth.jhu.edu/jhmi_eastbaltimore/
Fountain Pen Image: http://ulugtekin.com/a/pelikan/pelikan.101n.tortoise.html
Still Life with Tortillas 
Susan, this is such a beautiful memory, lovingly crafted as a poignant tribute to your father,
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Carol, thank you so much. I’m blessed to have had this sweet time with my dad and to be able to remember it. ❤
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Thank goodness for the smell of rain 🙂
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While Don DeLillo was working on his legacy novel ‘Underworld,’ he underwent a similar experience with smell that transported him back to the most vivid of memories from when he was three years old–and you may recall the line from Jitterbug Perfume whereby Tom Robbins chortles that the olfactory is an immediate passport to the deepest past…and so, with you and yours–I’d love to see a story arise from what you’ve so vividly penned in this space.
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Thanks, jd. Perhaps the story has already arisen. Wondering what memories the scent of smoky hams hanging in a supermarket in Estepona will elicit.
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Sounds like magical realism be your spur.
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Lovely tribute and memory. Yes, it is the small things sometimes that can trigger a flood of memories. Nice that your father shared his work life with you.
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Thanks, Lisa, and isn’t it strange (and wonderful) that my daughter, who never knew her grandpa, followed in his footsteps.
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Wow! What a great memory of a very special father. Doctors are usually not known for their patience.
Oddly enough, your sweet memory triggered a memory of my dad rocking me in a rocking chair, singing Twenty Froggies in a voice like Johnny Cash’s. I can hear the pop of the rocker’s legs as we rocked back and forth, and I can see the toes of one of my feet playing with the arm of the chair. “Twenty Froggies went to school, down beside a rushing pool. Twenty little coats of green, twenty vests all white and clean.”
Ahhhh, thanks for bringing back that memory. I miss my dad. Thank you.
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Marvelous! I’m so pleased that your delightful memory was triggered for a moment, Jilanne, and also that you had a sweet singing daddy. ❤
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Made me cry. Seriously. A sweet poignant piece.
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Oh, I hope it was a sweet cry, Katie. ❤
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Thank you for sharing these thoughts. Your writing is wonderful.
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Thanks, Tom. So glad you stopped by.
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