A Smell, A Memory
Gideon Gradman
Issue date: 5/27/04 Section: Perspectives
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A whiff of spring air, a familiar scent, a warm and distant memory fills my mind. I was taken aback this week when a woman, a total stranger, crossed the street in front of me as I walked leisurely on the sidewalk. While I didn't notice her at first, I soon could not help but notice her perfume. Its sweet yet musky smell was distinct - the same scent as an old flame, a person with whom I was once in love.
She had passed through my life at just the right time, only to eventually part ways. She is someone I still care for deeply. Suddenly my mind was filled with pictures of my friend, old trips, memories of a formal dinner, of her in a long black dress with an open neckline, and of being overcome with that same intoxicating scent. It is amazing what the mind stores away in its nooks and crannies.
It is fascinating how a mere scent can transport you to a familiar and sometimes long-lost place, bringing a rush of memories to the surface. Smell is one of our most acute senses and our minds often create links between smells and memorable events. Everyone has these connections: the smell of a certain dish your mom makes transports you to your childhood kitchen; the smell of good hotdog inspires the same 10-year-old grin you had at your first baseball game; or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a whiff of tequila reminds you of the long morning after your 21st birthday and your vow to 'never drink again...'
For me, there are all of those connections and a few others: the pungent, sulfuric smell of blue-tipped kitchen matches that reminds me of campfires as a Boy Scout; the heavy scent of a New England pine that rekindles memories of playing hide and seek in the dense woods of Connecticut; and the smell of cigars which always stirs up a picture of my grandfather, of blessed memory, sitting in his red leather chair and smiling at his young grandson. And I guess the scent of a certain woman gets me thinking too.
Come to think of it, I think I owe her a phone call.
I hope all of you soon have as memory filled a day as I just did.
She had passed through my life at just the right time, only to eventually part ways. She is someone I still care for deeply. Suddenly my mind was filled with pictures of my friend, old trips, memories of a formal dinner, of her in a long black dress with an open neckline, and of being overcome with that same intoxicating scent. It is amazing what the mind stores away in its nooks and crannies.
It is fascinating how a mere scent can transport you to a familiar and sometimes long-lost place, bringing a rush of memories to the surface. Smell is one of our most acute senses and our minds often create links between smells and memorable events. Everyone has these connections: the smell of a certain dish your mom makes transports you to your childhood kitchen; the smell of good hotdog inspires the same 10-year-old grin you had at your first baseball game; or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a whiff of tequila reminds you of the long morning after your 21st birthday and your vow to 'never drink again...'
For me, there are all of those connections and a few others: the pungent, sulfuric smell of blue-tipped kitchen matches that reminds me of campfires as a Boy Scout; the heavy scent of a New England pine that rekindles memories of playing hide and seek in the dense woods of Connecticut; and the smell of cigars which always stirs up a picture of my grandfather, of blessed memory, sitting in his red leather chair and smiling at his young grandson. And I guess the scent of a certain woman gets me thinking too.
Come to think of it, I think I owe her a phone call.
I hope all of you soon have as memory filled a day as I just did.