RIP Chanel Chance

It's been a good, long run, my delicious bottle of perfume...

You were the scent I wore while I was dating my husband.

It was your intoxicating aroma that he associated with me.

You smell SO good.

But, alas, despite my efforts to ration you over the last couple years {for sentimental reasons}, you have sprayed your last. 

You will be missed.

But I cannot write about your end without telling the story of your origin. 

You see, you were not always mine.  Before you belonged to me, you belonged to my old roommate, Julia.   Julia and I lived together for the 2006-07 school year--both of us working as FOCUS missionaries at the University of Colorado.   

Julia and I were not just roommates; we were also co-workers and friends.  We spent many an evening watching movies together slumber-party style on my bed, laughed non-stop, and always had an open ear for each other.  

We shared many things as roommates.  In particular, Julia loved my spiral hair brush, and I loved her Chanel Chance perfume!

So naturally, I asked if I could borrow a few sprays to wear on my first date with Luke!

"Of course, Love," she said. {She is sweet like that.}

Luckily for her, Luke lived across the country, so I didn't bug her about borrowing it too often--just on special occassions.

As the year went on, Julia and I were both planning big moves for the next year: 

I decided I was going to move to South Carolina to be closer to Luke, and she decided she was going to join a convent--yes, a real convent to become a nun.  She is that awesome.

One day, Julia mentioned that she would not be able to bring ANY belongings with her to the convent. 

"You can't bring anything?"  I asked in disbelief.

"Nothing," she said.  She didn't seem bothered by it.  She had an attractive freedom about her the rest of that year, able to give things away and not worry about accumulating anything.  {Once we went to Starbucks and as she was picking out a new travel mug, she said, "Andrea, come help me pick it out because it's going to be yours soon!"  What a sweet friend!  I still have that travel mug--inherited at the end of that year--and think of her when I use it}.

A few months before we were to move on with our respective futures, I asked,
"So, Julia, since you can't take it with you, can I have your perfume when you join the convent?!"

It makes me laugh thinking back on it, but I knew she would be happy to give it to me--and she was. 

At the end of the year, I moved to South Carolina with my newly acquired perfume, and Julia moved back to California to prepare to enter a convent there.  However, long story short, she didn't end up entering for another year!  I always felt a little bad knowing that she gave me her perfume when she could have been using it for another year...

But she played a significant part in Luke and I dating in the first place and always took joy in our relationship, so I am sure she was happy to know that all the way on the other side of the country Luke was enjoying her perfume!  

Fortunately, I got a bottle of Chanel Coco a few Christmas' ago, so I am not in complete Chanel withdraw, but I will always remember my Chanel Chance with a special fondness--the generosity of a friend and the beginning of a lifelong relationship.