Page 537 - Demo

Post-Pandemic531chemically overwhelmed at the eye clinic, or my reading aloud, were everyday experiences we simply took in stride. After every shopping trip, we would come home and place our clothes in a hot dryer and run it until they were odor free. We also each took a shower to rid our skin and hair of any odors we%u2019d picked up at the store. If we bought something like a new toaster, we knew to run it repeatedly outdoors, again and again, until any smells from its new heating element had burned off. When Lynn bought an older ethnic doll, I%u2019d give it a sniff to determine if it had any perfume or mold odors. If it did, I placed a small portable electric heater on a metal patio bench and positioned the doll in front of it%u2014sometimes all day, sometimes longer %u2014to burn off the smells. If I noticed a strong perfume smell on a used book we purchased, I%u2019d set it in front of that heater with the pages fanned. For us, it was all routine.In trying to avoid as many artificial ingredients as possible, we carefully read labels in the grocery store and selected the most natural products. We rarely purchased clothing that wasn%u2019t 100% untreated cotton. The rare fabric exception was nylon, which is actually quite inert. We learned that nylon gives up any odors it picks up after a short time in a hot clothes dryer%u2014or by hanging outdoors in the sun. Polyester and acrylic, on the other hand, stubbornly retain any odors they absorb.We certainly knew that we lived quite differently from most people%u2014but only if we consciously thought about it. Most of the time, we didn%u2019t. We just lived the same way we had been for most of our adult lives. Having a healthy house was an absolute requirement for Lynn%u2019s health and well being, but because we already had one, it rarely came up. On the other hand, if our house were to suddenly burn down, or get destroyed by a tornado, we knew for certain there wouldn%u2019t be another on the market for us to purchase and move into. But by being resourceful, and having dealt with so many challenging situations in the past, we were confident we%u2019d be able to take any situation in stride and figure something out. What we hadn%u2019t yet figured out was what would happen if just one of us died. We had always been a complete unit%u2014one dependent on the other. In all the years we%u2019d been together, we%u2019d not required others to fulfill us. Still%u2014and this was not just wishful