GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2008
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Ever since then, this smell has evoked emotions in me of happiness, laughter, genuine sharing, and even a sense of expansion which I find quite difficult to express. All this from a bar of soap!
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to take me fishing in his boat and the smell of warm bread takes me back to Line Wall Road when on Sunday mornings after church mum and the rest of the family would go to buy bread from the bakery before going home.” Jim Wright often recalls the times when he went with his father to fill up his motorbike. “The smell of petrol always reminds me of my father filling up his scooter and I still remember this vividly. As he rode to the garage to fill up I often stood in front of him on the bike. Of course you wouldn’t be allowed to ride like that today, but even though I was only about six years old then, I still think about it when I fill up my car with fuel.” Sonia Golt is still taken back to childhood when she smells Chanel No5. “It was on the tip of my nose constantly as it was my mother’s favourite and now it is mine after all those years as I associate it strongly with my parents’ love for me. Music from the ’50s always brings up memories of my father arriving home from work and dancing around the house with my mother and classic cars are still a big trigger as I travelled much in my father’s Morris Minor.” The smell of fresh coffee and toast in the morning takes Albert Borrell straight to his school days. “As a little boy I was woken up really early for school whilst my parents calmly discussed the day ahead in the kitchen. It still gives me that sense of warmth and belonging today.” Jessica Garcia is often transported back to her childhood. “When I smell washing hanging on the line it always reminds me of the plot of land just off Cumberland Road where my aunties lived and our favourite pastime was to run through all the washing playing catch. We just loved the smell of newly washed sheets and this remains a pleasant memory despite the fact we were always told off.” Peri Martin, who is an aromatherapist, feels that smells play an important part in her life and could come up with many examples. “A strong aromatic trigger for me is the smell of apple soap. This instantly takes me to a very happy time in my life — my first term at 6th form college. The memories that I associate with this smell are strangely difficult to describe in terms of visual images. I think they would best be summed up with the word ‘belonging’. This had been sadly lacking in my experience of school. I had needed to travel 12 miles daily and had not found it easy to make friends (with one notable exception) or to maintain a social life. To
take my A levels, I moved to the 6th form college which was within walking distance of home. From the first day, I made really good friends and immediately felt I had found a place where I fitted in. The contrast in the way I felt about myself was dramatic. For my birthday, one of
my new friends bought me some bathroom goodies, and amongst them was a refreshing apple soap which I particularly loved. Ever since then, this smell has evoked emotions in me of happiness, laughter, genuine sharing, and even a sense of expansion which I find quite difficult to express. All this from a bar of soap!” So we just cannot underestimate the impact different experiences will have on our senses and our memory. Childhood is such a precious time in life to value. “Daddy smell this,” could be thought to be quite an insignificant exchange... but I know better. I came across this quote by J M Barrie in Courage, published in 1922, which reminded me of the late Lucy Denham, whom I had had the privilege of interviewing for this magazine, months before she passed on. “God gave us memories so that we might have roses in December.” Lucy felt that in her later years all she had left were many fond memories which kept her going. She could look back and value a life full of rich moments. What a small investment with such huge gain watering that garden must be! n Editor’s note: The smell of tomato leaves remind me of my mother, as she used to have a greenhouse full of tomato plants. The smell of donkey pooh brings back happy memories for Jon at the Gibraltar Magazine of his childhood in Mexico!
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