Old lemons & stale beer are belaying ropes to a time & place that no longer exists today. My mother has no odor, no scent, no smell. What will connect us when she is gone?
Oh! The grandma apartment building hallway smell! 590 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn. It was a weird smell, one I can’t describe but that smell was comfort for me, because it meant that within 30 seconds I’d be standing in my grandmother’s kitchen in her studio apartment getting the most love-filled hug.
My other grandmother, who I wasn’t as strongly connected to. When she died suddenly and I went to Florida for the funeral and shiva, I grabbed her terry cloth robe out of her closet and took it home with me. It held her scent for at least 3 years. I’d sniff it periodically and remember good things.
My dad. He wore Lagerfeld cologne. When he died, I cleaned out his apartment and took his 1/2 full last bottle home and for about the first five years after his departure whenever I was missing him I’d uncap the bottle and have a whiff. Sometimes I’d even wear it.
My sense of smell isn’t that keen, but oh yes, connection to memories really does happen. I remember walking into a friend’s apartment building one day and smelling that same smell. It was a strange and very happy moment! Those old buildings. were special. xo
https://www.sfwp.com/quarterly/hyperosmia I share your scentiment. This short story of mine is named for the condition of being hypersensitive to olfactory stimuli. The narrator’s memories travel backwards in time and smell…
I love when we connect like this. I can't wait to read this!
Edit: I read, and loved it. The same couch, the smell of brown. I also really like the simplicity, clean lines and use of white space on your website.🩵
At this moment, I've lost all taste and smell, and it's very discombobulating because, as you said, these two senses help establish our presence in this time and space compared to other moments.
Today, after a particularly BIG cough I could taste my coffee but that was like a glimpse-smell!
The UK Febreeze TV advert tells us we've gone 'Noseblind' to the bad smells in the house. Perhaps, like a lot of caregiving things, we're so OVER sensitised to the onslaught of smells that the impact or amplitude of the smell has short-circuited the need to reference it.?!?
I avoid Dad's old aftershave - the slightly spicy armani smell. There are smells that are triggering - like the ones I smelt re-entering A&E on Sept 27th.
These days, I try to imprint memories with food because Mum loves sweet things...or flowers because she loves roses. For me anything that takes me back to dinner with friends.
For me, I think Music is a stronger memory time machine than smell I think. xoxo
I lost my sense of smell temporarily with Covid, and it still hasn't come back full force, but I'm hoping it will. Time travel via music is in the works, but music is a recurring theme in this caregiving journey https://jodishdoff.substack.com/p/groundhog-day-dementia-style
Oh! The grandma apartment building hallway smell! 590 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn. It was a weird smell, one I can’t describe but that smell was comfort for me, because it meant that within 30 seconds I’d be standing in my grandmother’s kitchen in her studio apartment getting the most love-filled hug.
My other grandmother, who I wasn’t as strongly connected to. When she died suddenly and I went to Florida for the funeral and shiva, I grabbed her terry cloth robe out of her closet and took it home with me. It held her scent for at least 3 years. I’d sniff it periodically and remember good things.
My dad. He wore Lagerfeld cologne. When he died, I cleaned out his apartment and took his 1/2 full last bottle home and for about the first five years after his departure whenever I was missing him I’d uncap the bottle and have a whiff. Sometimes I’d even wear it.
My sense of smell isn’t that keen, but oh yes, connection to memories really does happen. I remember walking into a friend’s apartment building one day and smelling that same smell. It was a strange and very happy moment! Those old buildings. were special. xo
https://www.sfwp.com/quarterly/hyperosmia I share your scentiment. This short story of mine is named for the condition of being hypersensitive to olfactory stimuli. The narrator’s memories travel backwards in time and smell…
I love when we connect like this. I can't wait to read this!
Edit: I read, and loved it. The same couch, the smell of brown. I also really like the simplicity, clean lines and use of white space on your website.🩵
Thank you! 🩷 Saifan designed the website for me—she has a good eye. 👁️
At this moment, I've lost all taste and smell, and it's very discombobulating because, as you said, these two senses help establish our presence in this time and space compared to other moments.
Today, after a particularly BIG cough I could taste my coffee but that was like a glimpse-smell!
The UK Febreeze TV advert tells us we've gone 'Noseblind' to the bad smells in the house. Perhaps, like a lot of caregiving things, we're so OVER sensitised to the onslaught of smells that the impact or amplitude of the smell has short-circuited the need to reference it.?!?
I avoid Dad's old aftershave - the slightly spicy armani smell. There are smells that are triggering - like the ones I smelt re-entering A&E on Sept 27th.
These days, I try to imprint memories with food because Mum loves sweet things...or flowers because she loves roses. For me anything that takes me back to dinner with friends.
For me, I think Music is a stronger memory time machine than smell I think. xoxo
I lost my sense of smell temporarily with Covid, and it still hasn't come back full force, but I'm hoping it will. Time travel via music is in the works, but music is a recurring theme in this caregiving journey https://jodishdoff.substack.com/p/groundhog-day-dementia-style