Femininity Friday: Your Signatures

Last week I re-read an old book-friend that reminded me of the importance of having a few "signatures." For our purposes, signatures are sensory features that come to be associated with us. A signature may include a color, a flower, a scent, a strain of music, a food, or a physical object. I'm sure many more signatures exist that I have not listed.

Our signatures help others to remember us long after we have passed. One of my dear maternal grandmother's signatures was perfume. Although my maternal grandmother died in 1990, I cannot pass a Chanel counter or see an advert for Chanel without thinking of her. Grandmother's signature dessert was a luscious chocolate cake, and every time I prepare it for my family, I think of her spirit of service to others.

I associate my paternal grandmother with the color peach. Her coloring was that of a tawny brunette, an "autumn," and she felt that peach was her best light color. She wore peach lingerie, blouses, nighties, scarves, and leather goods.

I have included John William Waterhouse's The Soul of the Rose (1903, public domain) as the painting is an image that I regard as the signature of my friend, Heather, who very much resembles Waterhouse's model, Gwendoline Gunn. My own dear husband regarded Bruce Springsteen's song "Cynthia" to be one of my signatures, to the point that relatives and friends now concur. I have a friend whose nickname is Cherry, and her signatures include the motif of cherries, including her favorite lipstick, Cherries in the Snow by Revlon.

Signatures are gained by repetition and excellence. You find a serendipitous signature or you might choose one deliberately. Your signature becomes a unique expression of your femininity.

Agape always,
Cynthia