Memory
Smell is a powerful sense – some say the most primal one that we have, with deep-seated connections to memories we have forgotten, and the keys to desires and feelings more often suppressed.
Those memories can be innocent. I remember my grandfather wore Old Spice. Whenever he hugged me, I breathed in that scent. It still carries the associations of safety, and love, and strength, even for me as an adult.
I remember the first boy I was attracted to purely from smelling his cologne. Well…that’s not entirely true. He was quite attractive. But he always smelled so good…odors of sandalwood and spice. He was never my boyfriend, although I wished he was. He was the boyfriend of one of the girls in my social circle in high school I remember him wrapping his sweater around me on a cold day at the beach when a group of us went to have a bonfire. When he wasn’t looking, I breathed in deep his cologne still lingering faintly on the sweater. Similar perfumes reminds me of that day, the cold salty air, and my heart skips a beat even now.
