Smells like Madison to me.

(posted by Heather)

The bed in our guestroom and the couch in our den smell like Madison to me. Specifically, they smell like Becci's old house in Madison. It's a really good smell - not musty, moldy, or like "old people" but beyond that I really can't describe it further. I just know it when I smell it. And when I point it out to Becci, she clearly can't smell what I am smelling.

When we first moved here and were unpacking, I smelled it every time I opened a box or did laundry. Now I smell it much less often and just realized yesterday that the couch has the smell.

Research has been done that shows smells (and tastes) can make (and trigger) the some of the strongest memories possible. Go ahead and check it out for yourself by googling smell memories.

Perhaps that's why every time I catch a whiff of "Madison" - I am always immediately taken back to standing on Becci's old front step watching her open the red front door to her house to let me in - feeling all that excitement and nervousness, along with all the other complicated stuff that was jumbled up into that.

And, at the same time - smelling "Madison" also brings back an almost overwhelming sense of longing for the familiar - for the city that was my home for over 10 years.

We decided last night that it's time to stop comparing. 6 months in and Greensboro isn't Madison. Never was / never will be and that's just the way it is. But Greensboro is our home now and is luckily also home to our beloved Cookout. (sidenote: I guess once you've made it to wikipedia, you know you've MADE IT for real, even if you don't have your own website...)