My Favorite Perfume

I think it could be truly said that every child’s favorite perfume is the smell of their mother. This is also true of me.

My mother wore the only perfume to which my father was not allergic. That being Youth Dew by Estee Lauder.

On its own, I didn’t care for the fragrance. But on my mother, it was like smelling love and cuddles when I was brokenhearted or if I fell and scraped my knees. And I would give every penny I have to smell her again, and hear her vibrant voice telling me, "You can meet any challenge you face."

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mom was uber creative for all of us. And she was perceptive enough to know that I had a secret -- another favorite fragrance. It was, and is, the smell of horses.

On the rare occasion when I actually got to touch a horse, mostly on occasions set up for me by Mom in her "connected" and "networked" extended list of friends, I would not wash my hands until that fragrance had dissipated. And go to sleep dreaming of the day when I could smell that smell every day and every night and any time I wanted to.

But not yet.

Because when you ask for something, even when you ask and ask and ask, sometimes the answer is “yes.” Sometimes the answer is “no.” And sometimes the answer is “wait…”

Present time!

So, here it is, birthday time. The chance to ask for anything I want.

I always ask for a horse. It's the only thing I want. But year after year, I get presents that are not a horse.

It was the same with Christmas. Boy, my parents, especially my Mom, had the most incredible imagination, coming up with gifts I would like, even though they weren't what I really wanted or asked for. (But God was watching it all, and He had a plan in mind...)

I have to hand it to them, I had a very very happy childhood, really what would be called idyllic.

I'd have to say my earliest memory was of sitting on the floor in the living room with the sun shining through the front windows, watching dust particles dance through the sunbeams. I was always good at happily playing by myself. I know this because I was told I stayed in my playpen until I was three years old.

I pretty much had to stay in there for safety from my two big brothers and big sister! Especially my biggest brother.

Anyway, back to my dream of being a horse...

Once I found out I couldn't BE a horse, I said I wanted to HAVE a horse of my very own.