Smells like...

We were on our way to San Antonio.
I had made up a basket of the kids' less annoying/favorite small toys to take on the road with us.
One of those toys happened to be a Buzz Lightyear and Woody car that I bought at the JBF sale about a month ago.

Sidenote: At the JBF sale, local people consign their items and share a cut with the organization. I had an armful of goodies and noticed that all the items I was going to buy had Consigner #86 marked on them. By the time I got to checkout, I realized that #86 belonged to none other than La!! I guess we could have skipped the middle man and just traded junk... ;)

Anyway, J. was playing with his Toy Story racecar and stopped and said,"Hey, this toy smells like John David's house."
I said, "Nuh-uh, Lemme smell it."
Then little A. requested a sniff.
She exclaimed, "It's Julia!!!"
It really DID smell like John David's house, and Julia's house, and Lori's house.
The Oh-so-familiar smell was wonderful. It made me happy at first, then sad.
That plastic toy caused a rush of unexpected emotions to enter our van.
I so miss that smell. I am sure Lori misses it too.
I have cried what feels like silly tears over that racecar. I have even snorted the car a few more times since then. My hearts so aches to see her.
Many have tried to duplicate the heavenly smell of 'home' but it belongs to La.

For Christmas, La, would you sign me up for one of those monthly deliveries?
Not a wreath, or the cookies of the month.
Would you send me 'the smell' - I miss the beautiful smell of YOU!
Have a Happy time with your family!
I love you!