The Scent of Gardenia

I happened to be walking through the perfume department at Macy's and caught a whiff of gardenias. Instantly, I was transformed to my youth and recalled how Jungle Gardenia had been my favorite scent. I tried to remember why it had become such a special smell to me and like a movie flashing before me, I saw why the delicate flower had been so important in my life.



A delicate and sweet smelling Gardenia

It was a first date with a tall gentleman I had met at a dance.  I wore a tan sweater, checkered olive green and tan skirt, bobby socks and black and white saddle shoes.  I remember what I wore because it was in exact contrast to what my date showed up wearing....a dark blue suit, white shirt, tie, and dress shoes. We went to a movie where he was overdressed and then to Trader Vic's, a popular spot at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where I was under dressed!

He ordered a Scorpion that arrived in a twelve inch bowl, two straws, and gardenias floating on top. I took a few sips but since I never drank alcoholic drinks, I let him do most of the drinking! I did pluck the flowers out of the drink to keep as souvenirs. That was the beginning of my love affair with the fragrance of gardenias.

I dated the tall gentleman for two years and for my birthdays I received gardenias. When we married  my wedding bouquet was white roses and gardenias. The florist warned me that white roses and especially gardenias do not last very long but it did not matter to me, the gardenia represented something beautiful in my life!

My bouquet of white roses and gardenias!

As we left on our honeymoon to Mexico, a dainty arrangement of gardenias graced my left shoulder.  In Mexico, a vendor came up to us selling gardenias that we took to our room filling the room with the fragrance of the sweet flower. At the birth of my children, I received a floating gardenia in a glass bowl.  Nurses would enter the room and comment, "What smells so sweet?"  I wore Jungle Gardenia for years and one day, my son who by now was an adult, said, "Mom, every time I smell a gardenia, I think of you."

The gardenia had represented a part of my life that was filled with love, hope and anticipation. When ever I detect the sweet fragrance of the gardenia, those days flood my memory!

"If a gardenia could last forever,

maybe a marriage would not

darken and die." E. Moscoso