Porcelain Dolls and Grandmother

My Grandmother always smelled like diet soda.

The only available drink whenever we visited her:

Whether for her birthday,

Mother's day

Or Christmas.

My Grandmother smells of diet coke.

My Grandmother always smelled like a room full of porcelain dolls.

Her small house filled with delicate Swarovski crystals and glass:

Glass everything.

Just like the delicate strands of her long blonde hair,

Intricately laced in curls on the top of her head.

My Grandmother smells of porcelain dolls.

My Grandmother always smelled like perfume.

Perfume she used to ease the stench of hard work

And dedication to raising 8 children-

Alone.

My Grandmother smells of work, sweat, and perfume.

My Grandmother always smelled like love:

Love, like the way she taught her children life lessons

And prepared them for the reality of being a grown-up-

How to care for and depend on each other.

.My Grandmother smells of love.

But most of all, my Grandmother always smelled like trust and inspiration.
My Grandmother smells of the admiration I have for her.