Feb. 5th, 2006

Have you ever experienced a time where out of nowhere the smell of someone you love dearly is all around you? You can be sitting there quiet, deep in thought or on a busy street going about your day and you are overwhelmed by the familiar scent of one you know so well and haven't seen for some time.

I wonder sometimes if this is just a figment of our imaginations... or if maybe God works in such small wonderful ways as giving us that tiny bit of comfort we might need in that moment. I don't think too much about it at the time it happens, because I am so overcome by the fact that the smell is so strong that the very person could be in the room with me! But the more it happens to me, the more I see the connection between how I am feeling that day and when I am aware of this smell. I don't think it is so coincidental these days.
When I am missing my Mom terribly, sometimes out of thin air her smell of sweet perfumes and stale tobacco will cover me. Sometimes it follows me and will linger, and sometimes I try to keep it with me, but the moment I smell it, it vanishes. Often it is just enough to calm me, to assure me I haven't forgotten her, and that surely, she hasn't forgotten me. And this happens more so with the smell of my fiance, and for that I am SO THANKFUL. I know his smell so well and it is such a comfort to me. I think it must be God who can send a pick-me-up in a time I need it most, to know that even though Joe is miles away from me, that really he isn't that far away at all, and to encourage me to hold on. It's not easy being away from the people you are closest to in life, the ones who hold the most important pieces of who you are - sometimes you do not feel whole without them. I thank God for these smells that seem to come out of nowhere at the times they are needed most. Love is truly sweet, even its aroma.