My Sister's Things no. 2

It is interesting to consider the effect a scent can have on you.  The memories that come rushing back with a specific smell.  Combine the scent of a person with the loss of that person and you have the perfect storm for sensory and emotional upheaval.  

This is Shari's perfume.  It is a cream scent, purchased from the health food store.  I had bought one - but in the scent of Patchouli Rose and I showed it to Shari.  She loved the container, and liked the smell, but she quickly decided my choice of fragrance was not 'her'.  On her next visit to the mall she went to the health food store and picked up Oasis... a 'sister scent' to my Patchouli Rose.  It is a lovely, beach smell and it is so very Shari.

I keep this little container on a table in my bedroom.  On occasion I open it, stand very still, close my eyes and inhale the scent deeply.  I can't explain how wonderful it feels to do this.  It is interesting how, although I rarely allow myself these moments (I am strangely worried that the fragrance is going to 'run out') I often smell Oasis when I walk into my bedroom, as well as in other areas of my home.  When I catch the scent I stop - frozen in a moment of remembrance, and I can't help but smile.  I see her, warm, smiling, colourful, vibrant... Shari.

A while ago I was at my parent's farm for a visit, and my mom went up to Shari's room and pulled Shari's art portfolio out from under her old bed.  Mom gave it to me as I have become the keeper of Shari's artwork, and it only makes sense for me to store it properly in her portfolio.  I couldn't seem to find a spot to store it when I brought it home, so her portfolio has taken up temporary residence in my living room, leaning against the wall near our piano.  I noticed a few days later when walking past it I could distinctly smell Oasis.  Bending down and smelling the portfolio directly it is as if someone has smeared Oasis all over the cover.  This is interesting considering the portfolio sat untouched under her old bed at the farm since she graduated from university.  It is not logical that the portfolio should carry this scent as Shari only started to wear Oasis in 2014.

I choose not to question this.  Instead, I prefer to walk into my living room, pause, smell, and smile.

jbxo