Shalimar and the Postman

It was the day before my birthday, my un- birthday, as Winnie the Pooh would say. It was just another Thursday, quiet, warm. I was finishing lunch when the doorbell rang, startling our sleeping dog Yara, and she started barking loudly. I opened the door to a person I did not recognize and failed to see the post office truck parked across the street. The driver was not wearing a post office uniform shirt, so I thought he was a sales person, as he was holding a form and package. I told him I was not interested in buying anything. The look on the young man's face was utter dismay, as he manged to politely say " I am the postman!" I felt so embarrassed, and apologized. I should have told him the non- uniform shirt had me confused. Here I was a member of a black Baptist church since 1994, only to offend my new postman who I probably did not recognize from our church, I felt awful. I apologized again for my mistake and our barking dog, and signed for the package, that came from my French friend Catherine, who was one of my room mates in Austin, Texas, where we met in graduate school. The rectangular package looked intriguing. I started to unravel its many cautiously wrapped layers, to uncover a gorgeous package of perfume, "Shalimar", by Jacques Guerlain, their new version by Thierry Wasser, called "Souffle de Parfum". Wow, was all I kept saying out loud, tickled with the beautiful, elegant and thoughtful gift, as Catherine knows I love French perfume. Suddenly, my ordinary day had a touch of exotic glamour brought from across an ocean and a continent. It made me smile with gratitude and  pride. She is always such a thoughtful friend, having brought me so many moments of joy and dignity over the course of the last 31 years since we first met. Books, music, jewelry, perfume, scarves, blouses, adding a touch of elegance and exotic flair to my socially solitary existence so far away from my culture, language and birth country identity, making me feel a part of her generous, sensitive soul. With some special friends, it does not seem to matter how far they are away physically, or how long it has been since we last saw them, they are never far from our minds. Catherine is such a friend. She has always had this way of making me feel like I matter, and there is so much respect in her friendship. We met the semester before she graduated with a master's degree in business, and returned to France, where she got a job in Paris, but it was enough time for her to leave a lasting imprint on my heart and mind, in style, attitude, poise, dignity. Some friends you do not miss because they are a part of you. It is actually a wonderful feeling. I looked again at the beautifully packaged bottle of perfume, and decided to wait to open it until tomorrow, my actual birthday. I would wear the perfume for my birthday dinner with my husband and son and I knew it would make me feel as exotic and beautiful as the legendary princess Mumtah Mahal after whom Jacques Guerlain named his famous perfume "Shalimar" that I now get to wear and enjoy, sent to me from a world away for my 58th birthday by a most kind friend.