I have a superhero sense of smell. I don’t know why I was given this gift. It started when I was pregnant and 14 years later, it’s still a thing. It’s both a blessing and a curse. Perhaps it is a primal skill that somehow keeps me safe from danger. Perhaps it is a writer’s skill designed to give me details. Or, most likely, it is simply the only sense that has actually improved in my middle age, whereas my sight and hearing seem to already be on the wane.

It is what it is. I’ve made peace with it. I’ve decided to use it, for whatever it’s worth. When I meet someone, I smell them. I try to be subtle…I hope no one ever notices me smelling them because that might be a lil weird. I feel like a person’s smell is part of getting to know them. Most people smell like perfume/cologne, shampoo, and soap. That’s the good news.

After work, my husband smells like airplane exhaust. It’s very manly and I love it.

When I smell fresh green beans cooking, I think of my mother.

When I smell freshly mowed grass, I think of my father.

At one time, whenever I smelled Estee Lauder’s Youth Dew perfume, with the gold bow elastics that my cousin and I wore in our hair, I thought of my grandmother.

I love the smells of cooking. After many years of cooking, I can smell when things are done in the oven.

I smell rain coming.

I love the smell of a gym, from when I played years of basketball. It may be a lot of sweat and socks and shoes, but to me, it’s hard work, friends, and pure joy.

When people have no smell, it really throws me off. A lot of people don’t have a smell and I guess that’s actually a good thing, but I like for people to smell like shampoo, or the restaurant they ate lunch at, or something.

What does your life smell like?