In the first house I lived in, we had ducted heating. The heating vents were in the floor, all around the house, and we had one in the bathroom. We also had a really cute little pink stool, shaped as a turtle! I loved this stool, and after bath time mum would wrap me up in a fluffy warm towel, and sit me on the stool on top of the heater. This was my favourite thing to do, to sit on the heating vents, and feel the warmth and security envelop me. However, it got even better when my mum would gently dry my hair first with a towel, and then with a hair dryer, moving it through until every strand of my hair was dry. I felt warmth from every direction, and it was wonderful. But that’s not the best bit… While my mum was drying my hair she would wear her purple dressing gown, which she still has to this day. This dressing gown is Dior, so I imagine it was a gift with purchase. And it was a gift to me, because over the many years my mum owned it, it was infused with her sweet, comforting, mummy smell, and while I had my hair dried, feeling as warm as if I had the sun beating down on me itself, I could smell my mum, only my mum, who was no one else’s and was so distinctive. It felt amazing, and to this day, my favourite thing to do when I hop out of the shower is to turn the hair dryer on. I put it on even when I don’t have to dry my hair, and I let it warm me, and the memories come back and whatever is happening, suddenly I am transported, and comforted.
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