They're everywhere

Before you read ahead, be warned, it's not all roses, unicorns and sunshine today, I wouldn't say blue, but maybe melancholy and nostalgic...

So, for those of you who don't know, I live here in Queensland in 2001. I met a woman named Kimberly Birchley who I affectionately called my Aussie mama. Sadly she passed in 2006 after a lifelong struggle with hepatitis, she was only 43. it has been 6 years since she passed, and it feels like forever ago, but being so close to where we met, where she lived and died, it also feels like just yesterday, a fresh wound with a dash of distance salt. Now that I am living here, she's everywhere. The whiff of cigarettes and sweet smelling perfume, behind the wheel of every ridiculously oversized Land Cruiser with the windows open and tunes blaring. I can hear her deep velvet voice whispering in my ear " I'm with you"
Then there is my sweet grams, who's passing in only 6 weeks ago, still fresh and I miss her. There is something about the smell of fresh rain and church bells ringing that remind me of being a little girl twirling as fast as I can in her living room while listening to her play "the entertainer" on the piano. She follows me around in every smiling wrinkly face, the smell of a brewing cup of black tea with milk. I had a cup of tea in her memory while I strolled thru the grocery store, I can almost feel her warmth with every sip
mmmmmm comfort.