Mitsouko Guerlain 1919 Eau de Toilette

It's striking that we keep talking about scents and memories. Whether it's on the forum, in comments, or wonderful blog posts, it does seem to be on everyone's mind, especially right now. No wonder, given what's going on. I guess when times are tough, it's automatic to want to reminisce. Especially nice ones.
Salva's wonderful comment drew my attention to this fragrance. Oops, I thought, how come I've never come across this one before? Chivalrously, a sample was sent to me in a flash. I will be eternally grateful because this scent has been a companion for years without me knowing it. The statement "Nanu, how is it that I have never met him?" I must therefore withdraw.
The attentive perfume reader now suspects that this will be a personal comment. Who does not like that, I wish you from the bottom of my heart a magical day and refer to the Kommi below me (which you should have read anyway).

I've already done a bit of past history here and so one or the other knows that I came with my family from Poland to Germany at the end of 1989. That was a tough time, even though we didn't have to flee a war zone out of fear for our lives. Still, it meant leaving everything behind, everything you had and everyone you loved. That took a lot out of me.
My parents always worked hard and rebuilt everything from scratch again. I am so grateful to them for everything they did and still do. In the initial months filled with language barriers, financial disasters, hostility, fears, as well as the constant feeling of being completely out of place, my parents tried hard to offer security and support. But they couldn't. How could they? Because they were also uprooted, had no basis and struggled through.
When I then went to school, something like everyday life returned. But I didn't understand a word and had to really fight. And now it comes to the greatest happiness I was allowed to experience during this time:
Mrs. L.
She was my class teacher and an angel. Without a doubt. Without her I would have gone a different way. She welcomed me with open arms. She had the gift to look into your soul. She saw what was wrong with me. She gave me the support I needed. Literally, when I wasn't feeling well, she took me tightly in her arms, hugged me to her chest and gave me comfort. She believed in me, she helped me to learn the foreign language, she helped my parents by giving them furniture, filling out applications, and and and.
I have never experienced so much love, so much devotion, care and kindness from a stranger. That was a long time ago now, but to this day I know what she smelled like. Because she always smelled the same. I loved that scent and literally inhaled it. A scent full of warmth, flowers, love, delicately fruity, soft, very mellow, homey. Everything I was longing for.
Just recently I was talking to my mum about that time and about Mrs L. My parents were and are also grateful to her for everything. I told my mama that when I close my eyes, I can smell her. Still do. I so wish I knew what that perfume was!

And now I'm testing Mitsouko yesterday. Bull's-eye! Mrs.L.
Mari is sitting there teary-eyed but happy, reminiscing.
I will see this fragrance for me as a whole, as my Mrs. L. and not break it down into components. It is for me one of the most beautiful fragrances in this world. Forever.

I called her a few years ago because I wanted to thank her for everything she's done for me. I was nervous because an eternity had passed. Teachers get to know so many kids over the years, you can't remember everyone. Still, I felt the need.
With shaky hands and a pounding heart, I dialed the number. After only a few breaths, someone answered on the other end of the line. I beamed. It was her warm, sweet voice.
I said "Hello, I don't know if you will remember me. I came to her then 3rd grade class in early 1990 and didn't know a word of German. ..."
"Mari?"
I can't tell you how hard I cried. I thanked her for everything and we talked and talked. She told me a lot about herself and that she was a grandma by now. Her every word flowed through me and enveloped me in a warm cloud. And all the while in my nose, unknowingly at the time, the scent of Guerlain's Mitsouko. But for me, the scent of Mrs. L. Forever.