The Memory of Sense

A scent can be so evocative as to bring back memories of a time long past. Your mother's perfume, freshly-mowed grass, roasted turkey.When I was in college, I used a certain shampoo (whatever was cheap at the time). Revlon's Aquamarine was in my plastic bucket during my sophomore year at Providence College, and the scent of it will take me back. Back to December of 1977, back to a snowy night when students eager to unwind from the rigors of studying for finals let loose in the quad with an impromptu snowball fight.I've written about that evening here and also here. There was a fire that night in one of the women's dorms, and ten girls died. Those of us who were students at PC remember, because how could we ever forget? I write this post annually, to remember Laura Ryan, Cathy Repucci, Barbara Feeney, Gretchen Ludwig, Jackie Botelho, Sallyann Garvey, Donna Galligan, Dotty Widman, Debbie Smith, and, of course, Katie Andresakes. I write it also to honor the survivors, young women and men who lived with pain and remembrance and even guilt.In the weeks following the fire, I consoled myself with music. And so the memory is not only scent, but sound.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04AXP5TgYxE