smell in relation to memory

The other day in class some people were asked how certain smells triggered a memory in their brain. This very circumstance happened to me a couple years ago in California. I had just had surgery on my nose after a bad accident and had not been able to smell for a couple of weeks. I was walking through a Whole Foods in La Jolla, California when I had a my first "smell" since my surgery. The most bizarre thing about this smell was the fact that it was rather familiar to me. At first I could not put a finger on it but when I realized what it was I was immediately filled with memories. When I turned around I saw my grandmother who I had not seen for over ten years, but immediately could put the face with the same strong smell of perfume I remembered from childhood.