Did you know that the regions of your brain that manage smells, memories, and emotions are intertwined? In fact, scent can bring back memories that might never have been recovered without the smell to transport us back to that moment in time.
This is why I keep the pearls* my Grandpa gifted my Grandma on their wedding day and passed on to me to wear on mine, in the original container, in a box, in a plastic bag. Excessive? Maybe but I can open that box and the smell is EXACTLY my Grandma. It's more than just a perfume smell. It is… her. Her house, her baking, her sweat, her tears, her love, and her laundry soap. I have lots of her treasures but this is the only item that has her smell and I treasure it.
Our sense of smell is such a powerful tool and is often used at the end of life and can be as much for the benefit of the person dying as it is the those who are in the room with them.
What smells do you associate with a person or moment in time?
*They are not real pearls and it was never clear to me if she knew that or not, so I never said anything.
