Every year, on her birthday, I walk into the same little perfume shop downtown. The bell above the door jingles just like it always has. The air inside is thick with a hundred different scents, but I only have one in mind. I ask for her favorite perfume—the one in the pale pink box with gold lettering. The clerk smiles and nods; she remembers me by now.
I don’t buy it because I need a new bottle for myself. Truth is, I never wear it. It sits on my dresser, unopened, gathering dust until next year rolls around and I do it all over again.
People sometimes ask why I keep doing this. They say things like “You should move on” or “It’s just a smell.” But they don’t understand how much more than that it is.
Perfume isn’t just something you spray and forget about. It lingers in the air long after you leave the room. It clings to scarves left behind on chairs and lingers in hugs long after they end. For me, this particular scent is tied to memories so vivid they feel real enough to touch—Sunday mornings making pancakes together, late-night drives with the windows down, quiet evenings when she would hum softly while reading a book.
Science says scent is powerful that way—it can bring back feelings and moments faster than any photo or song ever could because smells go straight to the part of your brain that handles memory and emotion without stopping anywhere else first.
So maybe buying her favorite perfume every year doesn’t make sense to anyone else but me—but here’s what does make sense: When life gets loud or lonely or confusingly busy (which happens more often than not), sometimes all you need is something simple to hold onto—something familiar that reminds you of better days even if those days are gone now.
That tiny bottle sitting untouched isn’t about living in denial; rather it’s proof some things stay beautiful no matter how much time passes by them unnoticed most days except once each year when everything comes rushing back simply because someone decided years ago what happiness smelled like was worth remembering forever even if only through glass bottles lined up neatly waiting patiently until next time
