2002-05-25-12:40 p.m.

I think I'm losing my sense of smell.

Maybe it's just that my allergies are real bad this year. I wish that was it, but I'm really scared that I just can't smell anymore.

I get little whiffs of things. Like I'm cooking chicken and when I went down the hall a minute ago I could smell it, but it was only for a second and when I opened the oven door to check it I couldn't smell it at all. I get a little sense of a tang of something when I open the shampoo bottle, but I couldn't identify it if my eyes were closed.

I have to get the kids to come smell things for me. Abby had to check that chicken for me before I cooked it. What if I lived by myself? I might eat something that was bad. It's kind of scary.

There are lots of smells I miss, like when I've put new air-freshener things in the outlets. I really love those. I loved the way the house smelled when I'd come home from somewhere. Now I don't notice it. The way my little boys smell when they get out of the bathtub. Food. I can't smell my food anymore. Grass. Clean laundry.

We were talking about this the other day and I said, well, if I have to lose a sense, smelling is the one I'd pick. But I really don't want to lose any.

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