Kara - there are a lot of triggers like that of our loved ones. You just have to do what you can handle. My wife could not tolerate seeing pictures of our daughter who died, so we only had them in drawers, not on display. On her deathbed my wife apologized to the kids for not displaying her pictures, lol. She was only doing what she could handle. We laughed because that was her biggest sin...

If you can handle the memory, and it gives you some peace, then do it. Hell, if it would make me feel better, I just might use my wife's perfume, lol. Well she rarely wore perfume, so I don't have that to worry about..

Bob

Kara it is 4 days away from when my wife died last year,i take great comfort in smelling the perfume she loved,it always brings back happy memories of going places and being a couple.If you are not ready then pack it away until ,you can look back and smile at the memories it brings back.

My husband had done yard work and then showered prior to going to the sauna where he died. He hung his towel over the end of the ironing board (which prior to this drove me crazy!) and his shorts were apparently sweaty, they were hung over the outside edge of the laundry basket (also a prior pet peeve of mine!). Both of those items are where he left them. I had to go buy another ironing board! I used to grab the towel and smell it...but it no longer has smell...if it ever did. I do touch it every morning. I can't move either one of those things but they break my heart to see them there.

My husband also stopped wearing cologne except for "date night." When he did wear cologne he only wore 1 type and it had a lingering scent. I have sprayed it on the pillowcases on his side of the bed. Between the towel, the shorts, and the cologne it looks and smells like he just walked out the door.

I too miss my husband soooo much!

I open his wardrobe and bury my face in his clothes, I crave him to the depths of my being. I torture myself sometimes doing things that make me sad but at the same time it feels good to remember, to be transported back in time. Smell is a huge memory trigger and like Mellencamp says "it hurts so good".

I have a pair of his pajama pants that smell like him, I also have his aftershave and often spray it on the pillow on his side of the bed. It just doesn't smell the same as it did on him though. It makes me miss him so much but then everything does

I'd love to catch a scent of my husband. It would transport me to a special place. Just thinking about a whiff of my guy, oh happy day. I miss him so much.

When we were dating, I was in high school. He wore English Leather. If someone walked by with that scent I would follow them. School mates used to pour bottles in my locker....lol.... after we got married he stopped wearing it. still love that smell. If I smell it in someone, I still swoon. lol

Tim died on Feb 6th, 2008. After he died I took one of his t-shirts, put it in a zip lock bag & sucked all the air out of it. When I need to, I take a whiff & seal the bag again. It feels comforting somehow. Take care.
Dianne

Today I put on my husband's San Francisco 49er shirt and his scent was there. I held it together, just sat back and enjoyed it. He would have been happy to see they won the football game today. Lots of memories go along with his scent. I still have some of his clothes, haven't been able to get rid of certain things. In due time....Patricia

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories :) they are such sweet ones. you know, I haven't gotten rid of anything. he didn't have a whole lot since we just moved and we each got rid of everything since we were going to buy all new stuff. I just don't feel the need to clear it our. I think the stuff will help my kids know him when they are older. some things I have put away because I don't want them to get messed up. its hard because the stuff I want is not here too. I cant find our wedding tape, the cd he made me when we were dating, and the rocking horse he made for a family member years ago just told me it was donated to good will before he passed. so im clinging to what I do have.

same here, walk in his dressing room and office and drink in the smell, my heart overflows, like you say lots of triggers Today straightening a few things, a stick and acorn he had picked up and sketched. Dang, I just have to turn and go back to other things. Cannot endure the pain.

He did not wear cologne. I hated it and told him it made him smell like my dad. I have some articles of clothing that I did not wash after he died and they still smell like him. Just soap and water.

Maggie