The raw stuff of life is only changed by the meanings we give it. Memory can be dissolved by scent, but also redeemed.
For many people, they smell White Diamonds and, instantly, they melt. They remember their mother’s indulgent laugh; the arms that held them.
Before I transitioned, perfume was the only thing I felt safe to experiment with. It worked in the realm of the invisible, the as-yet-unsayable.
This smell of Notre Dame burning was the smell of books older than all our lives—on fire.