My Mother's Chanel #5

Yesterday was my mother’s birthday and I am missing her more than usual. She died in January of this year so this will be the first holiday season of my entire life that I will not be seeing her.

Looking back, I marvel how she maintained her nurturing, feminine self, while working at the UN every day for almost forty years. She shopped for beautiful silks in Hong Kong to make into qipao, crocheted blankets for us on her train commute into the city, and cooked banquets for her international colleagues and mahjong and dance club members. This was back in the day when many women simply did not work at all.

Just a day earlier, I was able to help host our Chanel-sponsored luncheon for the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women. It was an incredibly inspired room of female who’s who. Actor Nazanin Boniadi (LORD OF THE RINGS) gave a very powerful speech about the female-led revolution in Iran. She, like my Mom, is a woman of such grace as well as fierce intelligence.

The icing on the cake of course was that I got to wear Chanel. And not only did Chanel dress many of us individually to perfection – taking into account our vibe, our bodies, our personalities – but they left us with a gift at the end. A bottle of Chanel #5.

I hadn’t thought about it for years, but my mother only, only, only wore Chanel #5. It was such a poetic ending to a beautiful celebration of dynamic women that left me with the sweet, nostalgic scent of my mother.