Sometimes a scent captures my attention. Its familiarity takes me back to a moment in time that I don’t fully remember.  A slight laughter followed by tender moments, and warmth. A scent so sweet and yet pungent that you can’t shake it from your being. It calls you back to a time that is lost upon those present but rips at your mind until you allow yourself to dive into the past and relive the memory that has beckoned you there.

I sat on the edge of a white quilted bed. Although soft, the cover was worn by years of being dried in the sun and kept in a hope chest longing for the day of wedding bliss. I rubbed my hand on it and it spoke to me of care and determination to make it last.

I reached to the dresser that was just two arm lengths away. Trinkets, perfumes and statues of Baby Jesus adorned the worn white chest with a mirror covered by jewels in the corners. I was searching for that one item I always tried to sneak around my neck. The shiny crystals on a strand that she only pulled out for special occasions were well hidden, but didn’t elude me. I knew where it was, and I knew I wanted it to sparkle around my neck.

The drawer wafted of heavy perfume, something I can still smell in my sleep. Sweet and soft, yet heavy in the amount that has been used over the years, the perfume perpetrated the air around me with her scent. It was a staple to the woman who possessed it. It was one of the jewels she never left home without.

The strand of crystals weighed heavy in my hand put I felt light as a feather when I strung them around my shoulders. I looked in the mirror and felt fancy, but never like a princess. She was the princess even though she was too humble to ever think such a thing.

Caught. She came in the room and told me to be careful and to treat the jewels with respect. She told me that one day they would belong to my mother and then to me. I could then be a princess.

She sat down on that worn bed cover with me, giggling over the other pieces of jewelry I covered myself in. Clip on earrings were our friends and plastic beaded bracelets covered our arms. We splashed that sweet liquid on our ear lobes and laughed until our sides hurt.

She was my best friend.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember the scent. I can still smell it. It’s been 20 years.

I reach so hard to pull her into my life right now. I reach so far back in stories,  traditions and antics that I hope that she would manifest into our lives knowing full well that it’s an unrealistic request.

She was a woman after the heart of the Lord. She took care in her traditions but she also took care in how she was a light to others. Prayer. Obedience. Service. Dedication.  When I try to pull her forward, I know that I don’t need to keep looking back. She is in front of me, waiting, remembering and excited for the day that we can link arm in arm and skip down those streets of gold, praising and worshiping our savior forever.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.

I remember her. I know she is a princess now. She is a daughter of the King. I can now tell the legacy of a beautiful life and strive to leave an awesome line of remembrance for the next generation of princesses and even for a little prince. We will remember and move forward.