Wednesday, March 7, 2012

That smell - 100 Words, plus 106.

I've heard that smell is one of the strongest sense triggers of memories. I scoffed at the idea of this. How in the world could smell trigger memories? Memories are visions. I remember distinctly the color of the sky on that day in '77 when the world turned green during that storm, but I don't remember the smell of the rain. I remember the sunlight bouncing off my brother's hair as we played in the pool on hot summer days in '84, but I don't remember the smell of the chlorine. I remember the look on my best friend's face when she told me in '01 that she was pregnant but I don't remember the smell of the lunch we were eating. Tonight, science was proved right: the smells trigger the memories, the memories don't trigger phantom smells.

I buried my nose in his neck for the first time in 20 years this evening and I was instantly 19 again. He smelled exactly the same and the sweetness of the memories that flooded through me brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to stay there, in his arms, in a public parking lot no less, for hours and just breathe him in.

Christ, I've missed him.

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