​What Made It My Favorite?

As Far Back As I Remember

Some things about me have been true as far back as I remember.  I absolutely love purple.  It has been my favorite color my whole life...as far as I know.  I do recall my mother saying I would outgrow it.  I never did.  Dark shades of royal purple and the lighter shades of lavender and lilac have always touched my heart and figured into my home decorating.  I never have purchased much clothing in these colors, but if given any that were purple, I would wear them until they fell apart.

In addition to purple, I have other "favorites" which have held their positions in my mind since so far back I cannot recall what exactly happened that let them rise to their current position of importance.  For instance, I love dragons, and fairies, and oriental knickknacks.  I also have collections of shot glasses, jokers (from decks of cards) and salt and pepper shakers.  Why I give them such a large place in my life, I have no clue.

Two things that have also been true about my likes is my total love of jasmine (which resulted in the naming of my only child), and the love of waves crashing against rocks.  

To this day, I've never seen waves crashing.  I do love waterfalls, though, and I had plenty of exposure to them growing up. Therefore, I always assumed the love of waves was just an extension of my waterfall obsession.  

Where my love of jasmine came from, I really had no clue.  It is not as if this tropical flower was readily available in Upstate New York.  

Recently I have been watching a DVD set of one of my favorite shows from my youth, Dark Shadows.  I remember rushing home from school and finishing my homework just so I could watch this "horror soap opera".  After the first two episodes, I realized the sign on was, in fact, waves crashing against rocks.  Could this be where the desire to see this phenomenon?  I began to wonder...it did make sense.  I watched this show for its entire run from 1966-1971, so my exposure to the opening credits was extensive.

As I continue watching this show, I find myself deeply enthralled again.  It was while watching the second season that the scent of jasmine was mentioned as lingering scent, whenever the ghost of Josette was near.  Once again, I had discovered the probable cause of my partiality to this delicate flower.

Finally, after 64 years, I have discovered the roots of my fondness for things I had no early exposure to.  
I wonder when I might discover why I love purple...

~Cindy J. Smith

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