April | 2025 | rewindliveslow

A few years ago, I did a post called Signature Scent. While I still stand by the idea that I do not need 3-4 (or more) scents, the idea of only having one is a Fantasy Self. While I enjoyed Coco Mademoiselle, it made me realize that I am the type of person who prefers to have a summer scent and a winter scent. Wearing one scent all the time felt weird and got boring.

When I ran out of Chanel, I also realized that I am not about to spend another $120 (or more!) on another bottle of perfume. I may like the idea of being someone who wears Chanel, but I can’t afford that lifestyle. I am content to say that I have had one bottle of genuine Chanel perfume in my life. I enjoyed it.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted for a summer scent, what I wanted for a winter scent, pricing, and what that looks like. In my last post reminiscing about perfume, I was mostly thinking of the 80s and early 90s. This time, my brain went to the scent memories of the late 90s through about 2013.

These scent memories of nearly 20 years took me back to Bath and Body Works. I did not realize how much those scents dominated my life for well over a decade. While it’s nice to take a walk down memory lane, I also realize that most of those times are not memories I want to revisit on a regular basis. I need new scents.

However, while strolling down memory lane, I realized that the first scent I loved from Bath and Body Works was Country Apple from the late 90s. Thinking about it some more, I seem to be chasing that elusive apple smell in various forms and various ways ever since.

Country Apple was given to me as a gift at a time when I was homeless. I remember feeling so rich that I had a bottle of that apple lotion, and it was one of my most precious possessions at the time.

Pearberry was a scent I wore for many years when I first moved from Massachusetts to New York. I remember I had eras of Sweet Pea and Moonlight Path.

Coconut Lime Verbana was a favorite for many years when I was teaching pre-school. I have lost memories of a Secret Wonderland era. Honestly, it took me a long time to remember Secret Wonderland. I’m not sure why I blocked it. Something must have happened.

The last scent I remember having and enjoying was Forever Red. Forever Red is another era that is slightly fuzzy. Who knows what happened during those years. I’m pretty sure Forever Red was the end of my Bath and Body Works era before I switched to the Victoria’s Secret Fragrances.

In realizing that I want a summer scent and a winter scent, I figured that Bath and Body Works is the way to go as the most affordable option. They offer a wide variety of choices.

After doing my research on scents and knowing how I tend to gravitate, I have chosen Sweet Kiwi and Starfruit as my summer scent. There was a buy two – get one free sale, so I got the body lotion, body cream, and scent spray.

In doing my research on scents for winter, I am thinking of going with either Champagne Apple Honey or Ghoul Friend when they come out this fall for Halloween. We will see. I’ve been chasing that elusive apple scent for decades now. I don’t know what it is about apple. I even get apple dish soap when it’s available.

No, I do not like Winter Candy Apple.

There are two retired scents (Be Enchanted and Bali Mango) that will be making a comeback for the Semi-Annual Sale this summer. While I am tempted by them, I don’t want scents from the past. I don’t live there. Even though I did not have either of those scents when they were out originally, I want new scents to create new memories.

This summer I smell like a starfruit. It may not be practical, but I’m a middle-aged woman and I will smell like a starfruit if I want to. You don’t need to like it. It makes me happy.

To be honest, there are two other summer scents I am interested in (At the Beach and Ocean), but I am resolute in keeping myself to one summer scent and one winter scent. I do not want to end up with 3-4 scents again that I am not able to use before they go sour. I did get two Ocean air fresheners as a splurge and have one in the car right now. I am enjoying it immensely.

It was nice remembering scents I used to enjoy, but I don’t want to relive memories of those times. This summer will be my starfruit summer. Hopefully there will be some good memories for my new summer scent.

Do you have a summer scent and a winter scent? Have you had scent eras? Sometimes a new fragrance can be a fresh start when it is connected to memory.

April 9 is Flower Day. While we do not know her birthdate or age for certain, I am going based on information I know of her history and information from the veterinarian regarding her physical condition. Today, we are celebrating Flower’s 15^th Birthday.

If you would like to participate in Flower Day, the ask is that you do an Act of Kindness in Honor of Flower to counteract the extreme abuse she has suffered in her life. I’m sure you have read the prior three installments of Flower’s specific story. In addition to the blog posts specifically about her, Flower has appeared and been mentioned on this website on and off for the past 6+ years.

Flower had another medical appointment back in March to look more into her physical injuries and to see if there are any other issues. The vet office was sure that they found Flower’s unicorn – a forever home with a person who would be perfect. It was an older woman in her 80s, whose cat just died from kidney disease and her home is not a home without a cat.

However, when the vet did a more thorough examination of Flower including extensive bloodwork, combined with her behavior at the vet office and the behavior I report that she does in my home, it has been determined that Flower is a hospice situation.

Flower will be staying with me until a decision needs to be made regarding her quality of life, pain levels, and euthanasia.

It is not fair for this other person who just lost their beloved cat to take on another cat who is at the end of their life. At the same time, it would not be fair to Flower for her to leave me now. She is terrified of other people. Flower growled at the vet office. She has failed every meet and greet with anyone interested in adopting her. Flower hides. If she goes to another home now, she will hide for weeks or even months.

How would that person know she is in pain unless they have a camera on her all the time like I do? How would they be able to give her the medication she needs daily if she hides from you.

If Flower only has a few months to live, it is not fair to her to have to spend her last few months learning to trust a stranger.

Flower is afraid of my house cats. Yes, it would probably be best for her to be an only pet. However, she is very attached to me. She rubs on me, licks me, and allows me to administer her medication every day. She does not hide from me. I have been working with this cat every single day when she was outside for the past 6 years before she finally went into the trap. How long would it take for her to get used to a new person?

Part of the reason why Flower is so scared of the house cats – Flower is going blind. This is one of her MANY medical issues. She is not blind yet, but her vision is very poor and getting worse. She can see them, hear them, and smell them. But I think sometimes they get close to her before she can register they are there, and her default is to hiss because she does not have enough time to decide if they are friend or foe.

The house cats have been nothing but patient and kind to Flower. No one has hissed or growled back at her. When Flower hisses at them, they run away or give her more space.

Is this a perfect situation? No, it is not. But this is the best situation for Flower knowing that she is at the end of her life.

The vet office has given Flower a medication for her arthritis to try to improve her quality of life. It can take 4-6 weeks to work – IF it works. At this point, I am trying to keep her comfortable and let her know she is loved. When it gets to a point where she is in pain from the arthritis and the pain cannot be managed or her quality of live decreases, it will be time to say goodbye.

I am still calling Flower a Foster. I never planned on having a fourth cat. I was completely shocked the shelter here would not respond to an injured cat. I truly thought she would only be with me for a few months and then would be adopted into a forever home. I didn’t realize this is a geriatric, medically complex cat. She would have died outside this past winter if she hadn’t gone into the trap last fall.

She is with me as a hospice until she passes. There are people who foster pets who are hospice. It is called fospice when that situation happens.

Flower is no longer available for adoption.

If Flower had been taken in by the shelter last fall, she would have been euthanized. She is truly a hospice situation. She is too medically complex for rehoming.

She will be staying with her foster family permanently until it is time for her to be euthanized from her injuries.

Yes, she would do better being with someone where she could be the only pet in a home. However, it is going to be more stressful for her to leave me and learn to trust a stranger at the end of her life. She is comfortable with me. I know her habits now, I’m home a lot, and she has a camera on her all the time. (Sometimes I wake up to 50+ 10-30 second videos of her just stretching or rolling over in her cat bed.)

I’m trying to show Flower all the love she never had. I’m treating every day like it may be her last. Now that I know she is hospice, I’m glad I took extra time to show Flower Santa on NORAD at Christmas and included her in our family activities. Will Flower see another Christmas? I don’t know. But at least I know she had one Christmas with me inside, warm, fed and loved.

I’m not sure if Flower will have other birthdays. I hope that she does. I want to show her all the love she didn’t have for so long. We will see. These things are beyond our control. It all depends on her ongoing medical status.

Today we say, Happy 15^th Birthday, Flower! Please do an Act of Kindness for Flower Day on April 9 to push back on all the evil Flower has experienced in life.