Chanel Allure

My husband was on daycare pickup yesterday. He scooped up our two kids, a boy and a girl, and brought them home. Our youngest, our daughter, is in this beautiful stage of attachment - while she is only 19 months old, she runs up the driveway and bursts through the door looking for Mommy. When she finally spots me, the excitement overwhelms her. Her scream is so high pitched that her eagerness turns into a cry! It's so powerful that she freezes, unable to run to me, she stands still crying out of excitement. With her arms up, asking to be held, I scoop her up. While we hug I give her nonstop kisses, so many that the cry turns into giggles!

I begin to tear up, happy tears, because I smell the most recognizable scent, that of my mom's perfume. I know the smell well, my mom had worn the same perfume since the 90's and I even have her last bottle sitting on my bedroom dresser. The days are fewer and farther between where I lift the cap to smell my mom, however, I couldn't miss this scent that enveloped my daughter's brunette curls. 

It is well known that scent is a powerful sense, and after many years of working in the perfume industry, I know that it is so personal and can unlock many memories for people, including myself. 

The remainder of the evening, I would give my daughter hugs and smell her curls. While the simple explanation is that her caretaker's perfume rubbed off on her, I found comfort in the thought that while my mom and daughter have never met, there must've been a type of existential embrace.