Have you ever had the experience where you perceive a smell and suddenly remember an event that you'd forgotten for years? Perhaps it is a certain perfume that remind you of people in your life or the smell of a place that you had visited. It is scientifically proven that there is a connection between olfaction and memory. The sense of smell is perhaps one of the most important arousal of memories.
Every country has its own aroma. For instance, England, is the land of dairy smells, Germany has a beery whiff, Thailand's very distinctive garlicky smell, India brings to mind spice and sweat and so it goes on........ This is a story of one fragrance that will evoke a magical weekend in the Nevada desert.
It starts of with a sensual fragrance of Tuberose.
And immediately it brings the memory of three mature, wonderful women sipping chardonnay by the pool under the Nevada desert sky. Their lives have intertwined for three decades , twists and turns, a couple of marriages, divorce, disappointments, a death and a handful of children later, they sit and each in turn show their true and loyal side that would make others envy of such unfathomable friendship.
You ask, how does Tuberose transports itself to the Nevada desert... well lets begin with a time so far away tucked in memory of Friday lunches by the Pool in Agana Heights somewhere hidden in the Marianas islands. A time where these young women had high hopes for the future, bringing forth their children, challenging themselves with their motherly duties, balancing their ambitions with all the wifely responsibility. No clairvoyant could have predicted what was in store and if anyone had tried, it would have been shrugged off with "that's impossible".
These Friday lunches spanned a few years; they nurtured, cajoled, and supported each other as it was one of the most difficult places to live. Many would not hesitate to contradict that living in Afghanistan or Iraq would be far more harrowing and tough than compared to this idyllic Pacific island. Very few understood about Island Fever, all pervasive to those that could not leave. A baby born with a dying congenital heart decease that needed proper care, which was unavailable. The disappointed anticipation of the twice weekly jets arriving with broccoli (on the brink of rapid degeneration) or the excitement of bottled avoset cream, where there was no cream to prepare a dessert so longed for from the old country. With all the adversities shared, there was no other place on earth that could cultivate such undying friendship.
This friendship was re-united by a serendipitous force unbeknown to the three ladies, if individually asked, they would undoubtedly have said the possibility was a one percent chance. Despite all obstacles, the weekend was made possible by a number of miraculous acts that somehow came together.
A hug, smiles, more hugs at the airport, the incredible amazement at being together, these ladies did what all women do, they quietly appreciate each other on many levels. Happy to know that no one had the edge over youth, appreciation escalated and a number of things formed a womanly bond, including a fragrance worn that somehow took hold.
Swapping stories, a good laugh, a cry , several bottles of wine later, it became a necessity to find this fragrance so coveted by the three females. When women are determined, they find what they want, and they get what they want, there was no denying that fact. The stand alone shop was found situated in one of the 5 star hotel on the famous strip of Las Vegas.
Tuberose, was there to behold in its own store tucked in amongst slot machines, and gaming rooms. Money was lost to three fragrant bottles instead of baccarat tables. Giggling, laughing, pictures taken, it only needed Tuberose to evoke the memory of that extraordinary April weekend of 2009 in Las Vegas Nevada for years to come, whether on a pararell universe or on another time scale or even in reincarnation that memory will surface and capture the essence of that moment in time.